MOORHEAD, Minn. — A 23-year-old Moorhead man charged with killing at least three cats is an aspiring artist who has modeled for local businesses and has more than 155,000 Twitter followers, a number typically reserved for celebrities.

Jalan Isaac Greer appeared in Clay County District Court on March 3 to face three charges of mistreating animals after admitting to Moorhead police he was fearful of cats and may have killed three of them while he was blacked out, according to court documents.

On social media sites, Greer describes himself as a graphic designer, musician and model.

He has 8,353 Instagram followers and nearly 2,000 followers on his SoundCloud account where he shares his latest rap music.

Greer was featured on sites modeling the local clothing brand Lost In Fargo and he has shared images of himself modeling shirts with the Fargo-based brand.

Greer was recently interviewed by a Florida-based magazine Senclaire on Feb. 8.

In the interview, writer Taylor Posh describes Greer as a “multitalented” artist who creates his own music, cover art and beats. Greer told Posh he’s originally from Montreal, but being an “air force brat” he’s lived many places like Tokyo and Paris before ending up in Minnesota.

Posh asked Greer about his large following on Twitter of more than 155,000 people. Greer said he started using Twitter just for jokes, but now he uses it as a business networking tool.

“It really is weird to me when I go online sometimes and notice how huge my following’s gotten over the last few years,” Greer said in the Senclaire interview. “Some people think it’s fake, some people probably think it gives me a big head, but in the scheme of things it doesn’t mean too much. It’s nice to know that I have fans and followers in a lot of places that I can connect with and who appreciate my work.”

His music style is similar to many trending rap artists today such as Minneapolis-based rapper Allan Kingdom or Tyler the Creator and Odd Future.

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2 shot in Minneapolis had worked for candidate Greer said he planned to release “darker illustrations” and a new EP while working on his first debut album. “I see myself being a successful artist whether it be in graphic design or music,” he said.

Greer appeared in court on Friday after a court complaint outlined the charges against him. According to the compliant:

Moorhead police were called to Greer’s south Moorhead apartment on Jan. 19 on a report that a cat could be heard crying and making sounds like it “was fighting for its life.”

As Greer let officers into his apartment to check on the welfare of his cat, he stated to the officers that the cat was just fine. The officers, however, observed a dead cat on the floor with blood coming from its mouth and ears.

Police then spoke to a neighbor who said he had heard what sounded like a cat screaming on about three or five other occasions.

Greer spoke to investigators again on Jan. 21. At that time, he spontaneously stated that he was not into “zoosadism,” which he explained was someone who enjoyed harming, killing or having sex with animals, the complaint said.

A witness showed police a website where a number of people indicated they gave cats to Greer. After talking to Greer again on Feb. 13, police included in the complaint instances of two other cats Greer may have killed.

Greer’s bail was set at $5,000 bond with conditions or $10,000 bond without conditions.

After the story of Greer’s court appearance appeared on Inforum.com, people from across the region have criticized the alleged cruelty. One Twitter user posted a 2013 tweet from Greer that referenced killing cats.