A viral video that captured sheriff’s deputies punching a Black man during a Florida traffic stop is sparking outrage —and prompting authorities to launch an investigation into the February incident.
In the video, which was posted on Instagram over the weekend, 22-year-old William Anthony McNeil Jr. can be seen speaking with deputies about whether he was required to have his headlights on when one shatters his window and punches him in the face. McNeil is then pulled from his vehicle, punched again and forced to the ground.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Monday that it has initiated an investigation into the encounter and that the State Attorney’s Office has determined that none of the deputies involved violated criminal law. The sheriff’s office said it’s still conducting its administrative review of the incident, which took place on Feb. 19, however.
The incident is the latest to add to scrutiny of police brutality, and to underscore racial disparities in how law enforcement deploys violence. Researchers have found that traffic stops — which are one of the most common interactions between police and civilians — can turn deadly, and that Black Americans are disproportionately subject to fatal force during them.
“What happened to William McNeil Jr. is a disturbing reminder that even the most basic rights — like asking why you’ve been pulled over — can be met with violence for Black Americans,” Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing McNeil, said in a statement.
McNeil’s video begins with him inside the car asking why he was stopped and why police have pulled him over for his headlights when it wasn’t raining. As he tries to get clarity on the law and asks a deputy if he could speak to his supervisor, that person asks McNeil to step out of the vehicle. The officer then tells his colleague to “go for it.”
Following that statement, a second deputy smashes McNeil’s window and goes on to punch him in the head. A deputy drags McNeil out of the car and multiple deputies throw him to the ground, with at least one punching him again.
McNeil says he suffered a concussion, a chipped tooth and short-term memory loss due to deputies’ violent response.
His video racked up hundreds of thousands of views after he shared it.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, meanwhile, said McNeil’s clip omitted key “context” about the encounter.
Waters said McNeil refused to provide his driver’s license and registration, locked his car door and was warned that he needed to open his car door and exit or else police would break his window.
Body camera footage that the sheriff’s office released appears to show some of the exchanges that took place prior to the violent strikes of McNeil.
The footage shows an officer pulling McNeil over and informing him that he was stopped because of his headlights. After McNeil locks his car door during the interaction, the officer repeatedly asks him to exit the vehicle and says that he’s under arrest for failing to comply.
After a second officer, whom McNeil is heard talking to in the viral video, arrives, he also asks him to step outside the vehicle. After McNeil does not, the violence against him ensues and while the body camera footage doesn’t provide a clear shot of the punch to his face, it shows him being manhandled as deputies arrest him.
Waters argued that officers’ footage offered information about the incident that the cellphone clip did not, though it also captures much of the violence that’s documented in McNeil’s own video. D. Bowers, the deputy who smashed McNeil’s window and subsequently struck him, has been stripped of duties while the investigation is conducted, Waters said. The sheriff’s office also says officers found a large knife on the driver’s side floor of the vehicle ― and noted McNeil did not file a formal complaint with the department prior to sharing his video publicly.
McNeil was arrested for resisting a police officer without violence, driving on a suspended driver’s license and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. He pleaded guilty to the first two charges.
Harry Daniels, another attorney representing McNeil, said in a Monday interview with ABC News that he intends to take legal action.
“Mr. McNeil posed no threat to the officers and certainly did not deserve such severe treatment,” the Jacksonville NAACP said in a statement.
Related…