Shocking footage shows Florida cop punching driver in the face during explosive traffic stop
William McNeil Jr., 22, was pulled over by cops from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) on February 19.
The shocking footage of the incident shared on Sunday showed JSO officers breaking McNeil's window, punching him in the face, pulling him out of his car, then striking him again as they threw him to the ground to arrest him.
A police report obtained by News4Jax stated that McNeil was pulled over after an officer allegedly saw his headlights and taillights were off in inclement weather.
McNeil's dashboard camera video begins with him discussing why he was pulled over with another officer, who is on the passenger side of the car.
'When he pulled me over, he walked up and I opened my door because my window doesn't work, and I said, "What did I do wrong?"' McNeil said.
'He said, "Well, for one, your headlights are off under this weather." I'm like there's multiple people with their headlights off first of all, and then there's no rain.'
The officer whom McNeil was talking to replied, 'It doesn't matter. You're still required to have headlights on.'
McNeil asked the officer to show him the law that requires that, and the officer told him he would once he stepped out of the vehicle.
Then McNeil asked the officer to call his supervisor when another cop smashed his window and punched him in the face while shouting at him to exit the vehicle.
The police report claims that McNeil was given multiple warnings that officers were going to break the window.
However, the video showed that only one officer was heard saying, 'Alright, go for it,' seconds before smashing the glass.
The report also claimed that McNeil was not wearing his seatbelt. However, the video showed McNeil was wearing his seatbelt, and the officer unbuckled it himself.
In the police report, the officer alleged that he believed McNeil was reaching for a knife under his seat and was 'continuing to pull away from officers' during his arrest.
The video showed that the officer who broke the window and punched McNeil asked him to show his hands, which McNeil complied with.
McNeil was then pulled out of the car after the officer unbuckled him and was punched by a second officer as a group of them forced him to the ground.
While McNeil is on the ground, an officer shouted, 'What is wrong with you?' and as he tried to reply that he was putting his hands behind his back, the cops tell him to stop talking.
McNeil told NewsJax4 that he suffered injuries to his face and brain during the arrest.
'I suffered a chipped tooth; my tooth went through my lip, and they slammed me on the ground and on the concrete. I had to get nine stitches. I also had a concussion and now I suffer from short-term memory loss,' McNeil said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office told DailyMail.com that it is investigating the incident.
'We are aware of a video circulating on social media showing a traffic stop represented to be from February 19, 2025,' Sheriff T.K. Waters said.
'We have launched an internal investigation into it and the circumstances surrounding this incident. We hold our officers to the highest standards and are committed to thoroughly determining exactly what occurred.'
McNeil hired civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Ben Crump to represent him as he seeks justice from the incident.
'I am absolutely disgusted by the actions of these officers, but, unfortunately, I'm not surprised,' said Daniels.
'The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has a long history of this kind of needless violence and brutality.'
'It should be obvious to anyone watching this video that William McNeil wasn't a threat to anyone,' said Crump. 'He was calmly exercising his constitutional rights and they beat him for it.'
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The DHS special agent also noted that defense lawyers had presented video they said was 'in direct contrast to the facts' laid out in the initial complaint. The footage, seen by the Guardian, appeared to show an agent pushing Ramos-Brito, not the other way around, before he was taken to the ground along with Mojica, who was also not seen in the footage shoving or assaulting agents. The agent acknowledged the officer's shoving and said the subsequent 'fight' was 'hard to decipher'. The agent also claimed Ramos-Brito's behavior before he was pushed included 'pre-assault indicators', such as 'clenching fists' and 'getting in [the agent's] face'. Meanwhile, chaotic social media footage of the arrest of the sisters appeared to show an officer pushing Ashley, prompting her to briefly raise her hand, at which point two agents grabbed her and took her to the ground. Her older sister was then seen briefly touching the arm of one of the agents on top of her sister. 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The sisters pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanors; Ashley's lawyer declined to comment and Joceline's attorney did not respond to inquiries. The DoJ also filed a misdemeanor indictment against Ramos-Brito, but then said it was erroneous and rescinded it, only to refile a misdemeanor in a different format. Ramos-Brito pleaded not guilty and his lawyer didn't respond to emails. Mojica, who spoke out about how he was injured during his arrest, has not been charged again. Essayli, the US attorney for LA, who is an ardent Trump supporter appointed this year, initially published mugshots of the defendants, but has not publicly acknowledged that he has since dismissed their felonies. Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for Essayli, declined to comment on a detailed list of questions about specific cases. The LA Times reported last week that Essayli was heard 'screaming' at a prosecutor over a grand jury's refusal to indict one of the protesters. McEvoy said the LA Times story relied on 'factual inaccuracies and anonymous gossip', without offering specifics, adding in an email: 'Our office will continue working unapologetically to charge all those who assault our agents or impede our federal investigations.' Bondi defended Essayli in a statement, calling him a 'champion for law and order who has done superlative work to prosecute rioters for attacking and obstructing law enforcement in Los Angeles'. She added: 'This Department of Justice is proud of Bill, and he has my complete support as he continues working to protect Californians and Make America Safe Again.' Jaime Ruiz, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection, which oversees border patrol, did not respond to detailed questions about cases and officers' inaccurate testimony, saying the department is 'unable to comment on cases under active litigation'. 'DHS and its components continue to enforce the law every day in greater Los Angeles even in the face of danger,' he added. 'Our officers are facing a surge in assaults and attacks against them as they put their lives on the line to enforce our nation's laws. Secretary [Kristi] Noem has been clear: If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, added in a statement: 'Our agents, officers, and prosecutors will continue to work together to keep Americans safe, and we will follow the facts, evidence, and law.' Mejorado, the border patrol agent, could not be reached. Cerna-Camacho is the only defendant of the five whose original charges are still pending, but when he showed up to court for his recent arraignment, the DoJ attorney was forced to admit his office had made an error: the one-paragraph indictment filed against Cerna-Camacho erroneously named Ramos Brito. Cerna-Camacho's lawyers have argued that the government's 30-day window to indict his client had passed, and the case must be dismissed. Cerna-Camacho pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer declined to comment. 'This is an extraordinary mistake and a dangerous embarrassment,' said Sergio Perez, a former DoJ lawyer who is now executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, a California-based legal advocacy group, about Cerna-Camacho's case. 'The US Department of Justice is supposed to be the pinnacle of professional and responsible criminal prosecutions. When you can't get the name right, it calls into question all other factual assertions in those documents. It's way beyond a clerical error. It's smoke where there is likely fire.' The case is a significant one for the Trump administration. Cerna-Camacho was arrested four days after the protest, when two unmarked vehicles rammed his car while his toddler and infant were inside, with officers deploying teargas. The incident caused outrage locally. But DHS aggressively defended the arrest, publishing a photo of Cerna-Camachobeing detained, and saying he had 'punched' a border patrol officer at the Paramount protests. Video from the protest showed Cerna-Camacho and an officer scuffling in a chaotic crowd, with Cerna-Camacho at one point raising his hand, but it's unclear if he made contact with the officer. In an initial complaint against Jacob Terrazas, DHS accused the man of felony assault, saying he was 'one of several individuals … actively throwing hard objects [at officers]' during the Paramount protests, without referencing specific evidence or details. Video of his arrest showed an officer slamming him to the ground, and at his arraignment, Terrazas appeared badly concussed, and a judge ordered he immediately get medical attention. Terrazas was released after nine days in jail, then two days later, the DoJ moved to dismiss the case. However, prosecutors filed a new misdemeanor charge, accusing him of a 'simple assault' misdemeanor, saying he 'aided and abetted' others and 'forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and interfered with' a border patrol employee, without providing details. Tarrazas has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer did not respond to inquiries. The government has also dismissed its 'conspiracy to impede an officer' felony charges against Gisselle Medina, but then filed an 'accessory' to 'assault' misdemeanor, claiming in a brief charging document that she had 'assisted the offenders'. The charges did not offer any details on how she allegedly assisted others. Medina has not yet been arraigned and her lawyer did not respond to inquiries. The DoJ also recently dismissed felony assault charges against Russell Gomez Dzul, who had been stopped 7 June by border patrol when officers deemed him suspicious for appearing 'nervous' near them and biking away, but then filed a simple assault misdemeanor, without offering details. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. Andrea Velez, a US citizen arrested during a 24 June raid in downtown LA on her way to work, also had a felony assault charge dismissed this month, and has not faced further prosecution. One of the only cases from the first round of prosecutions that the government has not dropped is the one that made international headlines – the arrest of David Huerta, a prominent California union leader jailed while observing an immigration raid. Carley Palmer, a lawyer who served as a supervisor in the US attorney's office in LA until she left last year, said the dismissals and downgrading of charges likely occurred after more in-depth evaluation by line prosecutors and supervisors, and in some ways reflected 'the process working': 'We want prosecutors to feel they can reevaluate evidence and change their mind when new information comes to light.' Prosecutors might dismiss cases if a grand jury declines to indict, if they believe they can't persuade jurors at trial, or if they learn officers violated the defendants' rights, she added. The LA Times reported that Essayli has struggled to secure indictments at grand juries. Palmer, now an attorney at the Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg firm, said it was unusual, however, for the office to prosecute these kinds of 'he said she said' protest scuffles in the first place, taking away resources from traditional priorities, including fraud, economic crimes, public corruption and civil rights abuses. 'Federal charges are very serious and have real implications for people's lives,' Palmer added. 'Even if it gets dismissed, it will be on someone's record for the rest of their lives. It carries a lot of consequences, so you want prosecutors to understand and appreciate the power they have.'
