U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)-— On May 30, 2020, at about 11 PM, during the George Floyd riots, Jaleel Stallings fired in the direction of people in an unmarked van who had fired at him. They said nothing before opening fire. Jaleel felt a round hit him before he fired back. They turned out to be police, who were shooting rubber bullets.
When Jaleel realized they were police, he stopped firing, very quickly, and surrendered. He had fired less than five shots. The shooting was over in seconds. Jaleel was severely beaten, even though he did not resist.
Because of video evidence, he was acquitted in a jury trial.
Now, two years later, he settled for 1.5 million and lawyers fees. He has stated he is happy with the settlement but would have liked to see some consequences for the officers involved. In the settlement, the city of Minneapolis did not admit any wrongdoing.
“I’m extremely satisfied and grateful for that but I’m disappointed because my purpose in filing a civil lawsuit was never money,” added Stallings. “I want justice and I wanted accountability.”
Jaleel has moved to Texas, to avoid possible retaliation. He intends to change his career from truck driver to activist. Police who ride around in unmarked vehicles, and shoot rubber bullets at people, unannounced, should be subject to disciplinary action, and possibly civil suit, if not criminal penalties.
From his new home in Texas, Stallings said now that his criminal and civil cases are behind him, he’s making the transition from being a commercial truck driver to full-time activism with the hope that his experience will help change the culture of law enforcement.
Jaleel Stallings opined he would like to work with gun rights groups to help change police culture.
Stallings said he’d like to bring people together — from police to gun rights groups — to talk about how to improve policing culture. He thinks the funds to settle his lawsuit should come from police pockets, rather than taxpayers.
“The work’s not done,” Stallings said.
Commentary:
In discussions of police misconduct in the gun culture, a theme repeatedly heard, is that police should be held accountable when they violate the Constitution, the law, or police regulations. Jaleel agrees with this. It is not clear if Jaleel intends to produce income with his activism. Most activism costs money, unless a sugar daddy like Michael Bloomberg is supporting it.
There are reforms that many police departments could benefit from. Respect for the Constitutional rights of citizens, and stepping back from the concept that it is the police against the citizens would be good things. Police in major cities have often acted in racist ways. When the police and citizens have mutual respect, crime rates plummet. Mutual respect can be earned.
Body cameras and ubiquitous surveillance cameras are making it difficult to act badly as police in a public place. Digital recorders and video cameras are as important to securing freedom as pistols and rifles.
We need to guard against the use of video clips to create public witch hunts, as well. It is profoundly important that we support the rule of law and due process.
Jaleel is already a member of the gun culture. He chose a Mini Draco as his self-defense gun and had an active Minnesota carry permit. Jaleel has no criminal record. This correspondent would like to hear more from him.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
This is the right kind of activism. The law enforcement culture has been very reluctant to accept legally armed citizens and they don’t train with that in mind. My son is a cop here in GA and when they passed Constitutional Carry, many of the police started complaining…to which a 23-year old rookie (who also made their SWAT Team and is an Infantry 2LT in the Army Guard) shut them up saying, “do the armed perps you arrest have a concealed carry license? Nope, now shut up and focus on your job and serving the public by defending the Constitution”.
Your son is a great officer and has the right attitude
He should have aimed.
The system is flawed from the top down
A democratic elected municipality gets you a police force run with a democratic mentality. This goes both ways the problem is responsibility and the lack of it, Today it is now sad to conclude the republican party is no longer trustworthy/
The police can not be counted on to protect you or the children in schools they are there to do the bidding of the party who hired them. This young man is lucky to be alive as that the police did not use live rounds which speaks volumes of their intent.
Noticed that he moved to a 2A friendly state.
And, hopefully, not to a big city therein!
Who does this guy think he is? I thought government had exclusive dibs on violence and use of force. j/k
Seriously, I am glad he lived to tell about the incident and to enjoy the fruits of his settlement.
Good, not good enough. If scumbags like that went to prison for perjury and battery and paid out of their own pockets, lying and atrocities would become rare. The law should provide for private criminal prosecutions, since lying scumbag prosecutors are in bed with them.
Not only was what they did, wrong, they lied about what they did. The cops who failed in Uvalde also lied.
And they should all be going to prison too.
Yes, and consider themselves lucky.
There are some areas where the outcome would have been different if a van-load of idiots drove around shooting stuff at people in parking lots and laughed about it.
Instant justice would be nice, since we almost never get true justice in courts, with prosecutors and cops in it together and controlling most judicial appointments-elections.
Maybe there will be fewer bad cops if bad cops are completely ostracized by their communities.
That approach would avoid a lot of problems.
I recall watching video during the Summer of 2020, a family was sitting on their front porch in one of the Northern mid-Western states that had been plagued by riots. They were in a typical residential neighborhood that seemed quiet, save for a group of some form of gendarmerie marching down their street. Not sure if this group of hooligans was police or National Guard but I suspect police. As they approached the house where the family was sitting on their porch, some bellicose ah started yelling at them to go inside. They did not go inside. The family was… Read more »
I remember that video. Disgusting.
Cops in many states are going to get a lot more power soon. In those states, they will be able to lie and get warrants based on the power “red flag” laws give them.
Ostracism could nip it in the bud, but in many areas there is too much “back the blue no matter what they do.”
armor piercing incendiaries level the field
If the federal red flag laws pass the LEO’s will soon learn what asymmetrical warfare is and the government will learn that they don’t have enough LEOs to enforce them.
Good, not good enough. If scumbags like that went to prison for perjury and battery and paid out of their own pockets, lying and atrocities would become rare. The law should provide for private criminal prosecutions, since lying scumbag prosecutors are in bed with them.
I agree! Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I think you could have ,I have seen how you write when you are really into the subject can be eloquent
Many Thanks, but I did say it myself! Check out what she’s responding to.
Not only was what they did, wrong, they lied about what they did. The cops who failed in Uvalde also lied.
Good for him In this case it sounds like the law did not act with in the guidelines of police protocol.
Pathetic.
What will you say when enforcers start looking like they fell on their faces?
That is, when old, white, fat, southern people who follow orders to enforce never-ending gun control look like six people beat on each one.
I think he was being sarcastic without the /sarc.
Hey now – not all old, white, fat, southern people are cops and not all who follow orders are old, white, fat or southerners. In fact worst enforcers I’ve met were white (I think, since I don’t really pay attention) – but had none of the other described characteristics. Please don’t peddle prejudice or misinformation.
I generally respect most of your posts, but occasionally you are way off.
Occasionally your comments are way off – like your comment about “controlling the means of production” and your empathy for cops who choose to do the wrong thing in order to not get fired.
My comment above was obvious sarcasm – would the “falling on his face” comment be so funny when it’s someone revered by Ope?
J, looks to me like he was satirizing what a lying scumbag would say to evade accountability. Hope so anyway.
Based on the last two sentences in his comment, I don’t think so.
I mean Ope. There was only one sentence.
I see.
What if “Ope” was someone else – would that context make his intent more clear?
Maybe. I don’t know the history of everyone here. If it wasn’t sarcastic it may even be funnier, with the joke on the writer.
I see the apologist collective’s breaking out its usual cowardly hit & run beat-down votes on us “individuals”. LOL.
Asymmetrical warfare.
You’re being sarcastic, right? If so, pretty funny.
To paraphrase Corporal Hicks, “Yeah, but it’s a dry humor.”
Ooops. I meant Corporal Hudson!
“I’m so hungry I could eat the ass out of a rhino.”
Bill Paxton was great. Died too young. Just saw a great flick he was in with Tom Cruise, Edge of Tomorrow.
Unlike Lindsey Graham & Marco Rubio, I’ll never be hungry enough to eat the ass out of a RINO. I doubt they even need to be hungry.
If he fell it was because he was thrown and not resisting. His entire body probably looked like his face – though cops often know, and practice, where to strike in order to inflict maximum pain with minimum visible injuries. Watch the video – been a while since I have, but think I remember them kicking him viciously when he was down. Shall I beat you with a bat – then laugh at you for looking like you ran into a doorknob? Biggest issue in this case is that taxpayers will be who pays. Think I’ve heard several of the… Read more »
Yep. This might’ve been less confusing:
“Looks like the individual fell on every part of his face.”
“Stop falling on your face, individual! Stop falling on your face!”
“What are you, a cop hater? We have a hard job. We can’t help it if an individual won’t stop falling on his face.”
LOL
lined up and gang raped in prison is what these “police ” deserve
There are many abuses enacted by police agencies that are rooted in mostly unconstitutional law. Civil asset forfeiture is one huge arena ripe for abuse. The ubiquitous war on drugs combined with the war on everything and its (un)Patriot Acts open more doors of opportunity for the unethical to take advantage of and abuse citizens. Until we as so-called conservatives and the republicans in the room admit that many public policies well intended to fight crime and terrorism have backfired. Now that we have a regime in power lacking in ethics and commitment to constitutional government we are going to… Read more »
Boy have I got a book for you. Civil asset forfeiture abuse goes much farther than you can imagine. Please see ” The Tyranny of Good Intentions” by Paul Roberts and Lawrence Stratton.
PIGS will be PIGS!!! He was resisting as he lay still on the ground and the PIGS were kicking him with intent to injure. Fire and Jail all those RACIST PIGS!!!
I know why he’s smiling in his booking photo…..because he’s thinking
“yyyyup! I’m-ah git PAAAAAYED”