Jury acquits Minneapolis man in self-defense shooting

Back in May of 2020 a group of men in a plain white van drove through the streets of Minneapolis shooting at people, injuring several. One man, Jaleel Stallings of St. Paul, who was struck by one of the bullets, returned fire in self defense. For that, the men then climbed out of the van and proceeded to beat Stallings, calling him a "worthless piece of shit." These are undisputed facts.

But there's so much more to the story. The militants in the van were actually Minneapolis police officers who were enforcing a nighttime curfew in the days after the George Floyd murder, committed by officers of the same police force. For daring to defend himself, police arrested Stallings for attempted murder and assault -- charges which prosecutors had the nerve to pursue. But thankfully jury sided with the victim and acquitted him.

Police will tell you that they used "less-lethal" bullets, but in video footage recently released by Stallings' attorney, distinguishing rubber from lead is nearly impossible.

In a story published by The Associated Press, rubber bullets used in this attack on protesters and the working press, were referred to as "nonlethal," but tell that to the 53 people who were killed by them, or the 300 hundred left permanently disabled, between 1990 and 2017. Police routinely use "less-lethal" measures, like firing taser hooks and rubber bullets, as punishment for daring not to capitulate to their power and authority.