In the days after Floyd's killing, with a curfew in effect, police officers roving in an unmarked van shot plastic bullets at Jaleel Stallings without warning. The event was documented in
body-camera footage released by Stallings' lawyer after his story was first reported
by the Minnesota Reformer. Stallings returned fire with a pistol, which he had a permit to legally carry, in what he later described as an attempt to defend himself against shots from unknown assailants. .... The body-camera footage released by Stallings' lawyer, Eric Rice, showed the police response to the unrest from the point of view of officers patrolling the streets of south Minneapolis firing without provocation or warning at passersby. Lt. Johnny Mercil can be heard saying he believed a group of protesters were white "because there's not looting," while Cmdr. Bruce Folkens boasted about "hunting people." Both have since left the department.....
The footage also showed a starkly different version of the Stallings encounter than the police narrative.
On May 30, 2020, just before 11 p.m., the officers were driving down Lake Street, with an officer firing plastic bullets from the open sliding door of the unmarked van. "Go home!" the officers shouted at people after shooting at them.
Stallings was standing in a parking lot with two other men. The Army veteran later said he thought someone from the dark cargo van was shooting real bullets, referring to warnings that day from Gov. Tim Walz that white supremacists were stalking the city in unmarked vehicles. Stallings took cover behind a truck and fired back, hitting the police van, the video shows.
Police raced over to Stallings, identifying themselves. Footage shows Stallings dropping face down on the ground, setting his gun aside. Police strike him repeatedly, screaming obscenities, until his face is battered and blood is spilled on the pavement. "You [expletive] shoot the cops?!"
"Who are our shooters?" an officer asks another on the scene.
"Nobody — he shot at us," replies the other, falsely.
Stallings was charged with eight felonies, including two counts of attempted murder, rioting and assault with a dangerous weapon. In the criminal complaint, the officers said they kicked Stallings because he resisted arrest.