MINNEAPOLIS — Jaleel Stallings never expected to be thrust into the center of a presidential campaign. But that’s what happened when Former President Trump’s campaign tweeted out his mugshot on X, along with charges that Stallings tried to kill cops.
The tweet was targeting Vice President Kamala Harris’ past support for the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a nonprofit that pays cash bail for people awaiting trial.
“It was meant to portray me as a criminal and a bad person,” Stallings told KARE 11. “You’re painting me in a light that is the exact opposite of what I actually stand for.”
But Stallings is not a criminal. He was found not guilty on all charges after video showed Minneapolis police fired less-lethal rounds at him first from an unmarked white van in the days following George Floyd’s murder.
At the time, police were patrolling Lake Street under orders from their sergeant to fire on the first people they saw.
Stallings, a licensed gun owner and a veteran, said he didn’t know they were police and fired back in self-defense. At trial, a jury acquitted him.
In fact, MPD officer Justin Stetson would later plead guilty after the video showed he and other officers beating Stallings even after he immediately surrendered. The City of Minneapolis would eventually pay Stallings over $1 million in a settlement.
But the Trump campaign's post doesn’t say any of that.
Stallings says either they didn’t take the time to learn how the case played out or worse – they didn’t care.
“You’re willing to throw innocent people, an innocent veteran who served his country and is working toward a better community under the bus for personal gain,” he said.
So why is the Trump campaign talking about Stallings now?
The Trump campaign did not respond to KARE 11’s request for comment about the Stallings case.
As Stallings awaited trial, the Minnesota Freedom Fund paid his $75,000 bail.
The group says since 2020 they’ve paid more than $20 million in cash bail for nearly 3,000 people awaiting trial.
That has made it a lightning rod for criticism – because some of those people have gone on to commit new crimes.
Since then-VP Candidate Kamala Harris tweeted out her support for the group in one 2020 post, Republicans like Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer and Trump are now trying to tie her to those cases.
Emmer tweeted earlier this week “Kamala Harris supported a bail fund for Minnesota criminals who should have stayed behind bars. One convict she sprung from prison killed a man after Kamala helped release him.”
Minnesota Freedom Fund says, except for one tweet in which Harris linked to their site, they have had no communication with her or anyone else on her campaign. They point out that MFF “only pays bail for people the courts have made eligible for release,” pointing out that all are people who have not yet been convicted.
Stallings says he is frustrated at being used as a pawn in this fight, especially since in the wake of his acquittal he’s been working to improve police and community relations through his Good Apple Initiative.
“You’ve brought me to a place where I have to defend my name and I have to try to re-prove my innocence again,” he said.