{"id":204577,"date":"2026-03-24T22:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T22:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204577\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T22:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T22:29:07","slug":"viral-video-shows-middleburg-man-being-punched-in-face-by-jso-officer-amid-arrest-raising-questions-about-use-of-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204577\/","title":{"rendered":"Viral video shows Middleburg man being punched in face by JSO officer amid arrest, raising questions about use of force"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Body-worn camera videos showing the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s arrest of a Middleburg man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jaxsheriff.org\/News\/2025-Operation-Red-Light.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.jaxsheriff.org\/News\/2025-Operation-Red-Light.aspx\">during an undercover drug and gang investigation<\/a> have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWP6j_8EVJY\/?igsh=MTVwY2N2emJubHpucg%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWP6j_8EVJY\/?igsh=MTVwY2N2emJubHpucg%3D%3D\">gone viral on social media<\/a>, prompting questions about whether officers used excessive force.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">News4Jax was digging for answers on Tuesday after we received an email with the subject headline: \u201cWe need help ASAP.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The email was sent to us by a woman who said she is the girlfriend of Dasaun Williams, the man who was arrested in the now viral video. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">In the email, she asks for the public\u2019s awareness and an investigation into the arrest, but she was unable to be immediately reached on Tuesday afternoon. Since the video was posted to social media, we\u2019ve received more than a dozen requests to look into it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Williams was arrested in November, according to court records. His mugshot shows him with a swollen face. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office says he\u2019s an accused drug dealer and linked to the \u2018Out East 1200\u2032 gang.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The video, posted on social media and viewed thousands of times, appears to show JSO officers striking Williams in the face, placing multiple knees to his head, and repeatedly using a stun gun on his back. A separate clip shows what appears to be multiple slaps to his face while he is pinned down by officers. Williams also appears to vomit in the video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Before the takedown, Williams is slowly walking away from officers near a car parked at a Middleburg gas station as one officer tells him to get down before firing a stun gun. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JSO announced the operation, called Operation Red Light, saying it led to the arrests of alleged gang members and seizures of drugs. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The agency has not released the full body-worn camera footage that has circulated online; News4JAX has asked JSO for the complete video, but has so far been able to review only what was posted publicly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Williams\u2019 arrest report describes a months-long undercover investigation and lists several charges. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The report\u2019s description of the arrest says, \u201cThe Gang Investigations Unit conducted a buy\/bust on Dasaun Williams, taking him into custody,\u201d but it does not mention the use of force seen in the video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The social media post of the video included the names of prominent civil rights attorneys Benjamin Crump and Harry Daniels. News4JAX confirmed with Daniels that he has been in contact with Williams\u2019 family and is considering representing them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JSO said the video is under administrative review, and it can not comment at this time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Williams is set to appear in court to face his charges on Thursday. <\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Body-worn camera videos showing the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s arrest of a Middleburg man during an&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3487,1039,116,118,117,1415,3490],"class_list":["post-204577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-clay-county","tag-duval-county","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacksonville-sheriffs-office","tag-middleburg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}