Viral Video Shows Fla. Officers Punch Black Man After He Questions Why Headlights Were Required in Daylight
Authorities in Florida have launched an investigation into a viral video that shows an officer smash a car window and hit a Black driver in the face during a February traffic stop.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said in a statement that it had launched an internal probe of the video depicting William McNeil, Jr.'s arrest and the circumstances surrounding it. The video was released on July 20 by McNeil's attorneys, Ben Crump and Harry Daniels.
"It is not uncommon for young African American men to be afraid of the police when they encounter us, considering the history of what's happening in this country and what's happened in recent years with police encounters," Daniels tells PEOPLE. "So he was very suspicious, afraid. So he decided to prop his phone and record it. They didn't know he was recording."
The two-minute video shows McNeil questioning why he was being pulled over for not having his taillights on before an officer break the driver's side window and twice tells McNeil to 'exit the vehicle' before hitting him in his face. McNeil complies with an order to show the officers his hands and remains seated in the SUV.
Another officer then opens the driver's side door, unbuckles McNeil's seatbelt and pulls him out of the SUV as McNeil repeatedly asks, "What is your reason?"
The same officer who broke the driver's side window can be seen punching McNeil in the face as he's taken to the ground, and another officer can be heard shouting, 'Stop fighting.'
According to McNeil's arrest report, an officer says he observed him driving without his headlights or taillights on in inclement weather and not wearing his seatbelt. The report says that after he was stopped, McNeil 'immediately became verbally combative' and 'refused to listen to' the explanation for the stop, prompting the officer to request back up.
The report says McNeil refused to exit the vehicle or provide his identification, locked the driver's side door and was given 'several warnings' before the window was broken.
Marijuana was found, as well as a large knife on the drivers' seat floor that McNeil allegedly reached for as he was pulled from the SUV, per the report.
McNeil reported that his tooth was chipped after he was handcuffed and an officer observed blood on his mouth, the report also says.
McNeil was 'adjudicated guilty' of resisting an officer without violence and driving with a suspended license, while the citations for not wearing a seatbelt and driving without headlights were dismissed, court records show.
Daniels tells PEOPLE that when McNeil was hit, his tooth went through his lip — requiring multiple stitches — his tooth was chipped, he sustained a concussion and now has short-term memory issues.
Read the original article on People
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Law enforcement's response to fatal shooting of state lawmakers raises questions
Law enforcement's response to the June 14 shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses is raising new questions. The Minnesota Star Tribune (MST) examined the timeline of events and found several instances in which law enforcement made unsettling decisions. On June 14, state Sen. John Hoffman, 34, DFL, and Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL, along with their spouses, were shot in their respective homes. Hoffman and his wife were wounded, but survived, while Hortman and her husband were killed. Despite knowing that a suspect — later identified as Vance Boelter — was impersonating an officer and had targeted a politician, law enforcement took 10 hours to alert lawmakers to the potential danger, according to MST. Following the shooting that wounded Hoffman and his wife, a New Hope police officer who was self-dispatched to the home of state Sen. Ann Rest, DFL, allegedly came in contact with Boelter. According to MST, Boelter did not respond to requests from the officer, who then drove away to check on Rest. However, the officer's interaction with the suspect was not immediately reported, according to MST. Additionally, the outlet alleges that Brooklyn Park police encountered the gunman at the Hortmans' home and saw him shoot Mark Hortman in the doorway before firing at the suspect. The gunman then went inside the home and additional gunfire was seen inside the house, according to MST. MST also claims that some police officers and legislators were not fully aware of the threat for several hours. Boelter was indicted on six federal charges in connection with the shootings, including the attempted shooting of Hope Hoffman. The maximum penalties for the charges include life in prison or death, according to the DOJ. "Vance Boelter planned and carried out a night of terror that shook Minnesota to its core," Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said in a statement. "He carried out targeted political assassinations the likes of which have never been seen in Minnesota. We grieve with the Hortman family and continue to pray for the recovery of the Hoffmans. Today, a grand jury indicted Boelter with the most serious of federal charges for these heinous political assassinations. Let me be clear: Boelter will see justice." Fox News Digital reached out to Brooklyn Park Police and New Hope Police outside of office hours and did not receive a response from either department in time for publication.
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
New study suggests ‘restorative justice' is failing NYC students
Education behavioral researcher Jennifer Weber discusses New York City's discipline policy for students and more on 'Fox News Live.'
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Colorado dentist's lover reveals staggering '4,000 texts in 18 days' during murder trial testimony
The lover of a Colorado dentist on trial for allegedly murdering his wife methodically by poisoning her protein shakes took the stand Tuesday, sharing details of their emotional affair. Dr. Karin Cain, a Texas orthodontist, took the stand in the Aurora trial of Dr. James Toliver Craig, 47. Craig is charged with first-degree murder in the March 2023 death of his wife, 43-year-old Angela Craig. Her cause of death was determined to be lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline. Cain testified that she met Craig at a dental conference in Las Vegas in February 2023. At the time, she had just finalized her divorce after 27 years of marriage and was adjusting to life as a single mother of two adult children. "This was the first man I had a one-on-one convo with in 30 years," she told the jury. The two struck up a conversation while waiting for a shuttle to a conference dinner. "He was honest and vulnerable," Cain recalled, describing how Craig shared information about his children and about his divorce. Craig, at his time of meeting Cain in February 2023, was not divorced. She said his sincerity made her relax, and the two shared dinner two times during the conference. Cain testified that their relationship turned physically intimate during the trip, though she insisted there was no sexual activity. "We made out," she said. Afterward, she pulled back, feeling things were moving too fast. "I told him that I wouldn't sleep with anyone unless he was my 'forever person,'" she told the jury. Craig told her that her boundaries were "reasonable." Despite the pause, Cain said they texted and called incessantly, and the pair exchanged more than 4,000 text messages over just 18 days. "He said things that made me feel great," Cain admitted. Three days into the blossoming relationship, Craig told her that he loved her. "I've fallen in love with you so deeply that the list of attributes has become endless," he wrote. She said that his messages were often spiritual, and when they spoke on the phone, she heard him praying over his children. Cain admitted some of their many texts became "sexting." "He said, 'I know I can be all right without you. But I don't want to be,'" Cain recalled. "I'm going to try to get through this day without being too turned on the whole time," Craig wrote, according to text messages read in court Tuesday. Cain admitted, "Yes, some texts became sexting." In late February, Craig texted, "Soñar conmigo, my eternal love. May Heaven let us bloom together forever." Cain said their relationship felt "right," saying she believed that James and Angela Craig were separated and close to finalizing their divorce. She said she believed James Craig was living separately in an apartment. On Feb. 28, Craig complained Angela was upset after spotting a restaurant charge "big enough to cover two people." He texted, "I don't think she understands what it means to be getting divorced." Cain began to worry about their relationship, texting Craig, "Maybe she's not on the same page as you." "This is scary. I didn't want to be part of breaking up a marriage," she wrote. Craig replied: "I didn't tell her anything about you." When prosecutors asked if she saw any red flags in early 2023, Cain answered, "No. Not even in the days or weeks after. Now I do. But at the time? I missed it all." She shared her excitement with friends but kept the romance hidden from her children. Craig frequently texted poetic love notes and confessed to past infidelity as a "mistake." He also told Cain, "I could see myself asking you to marry me." She replied, "I could see myself saying yes." Cain and Craig maintained a long-distance texting relationship until Cain made plans to visit him in March. She ended up postponing her flight due to Angela being sick. Cain's flight was rescheduled for March 16-20, 2023. Craig texted Cain on March 6 that Angela thought he had drugged her. "I would never drug you," he wrote. "Just for the record." Cain said that she wholeheartedly believed him. She said that Craig had told her that Angela was suicidal and "had tried to take her life before." On March 15, Craig told her via text, "Crash. Intubated. No brain activity." Cain replied: "No words. I love you." That same day, Craig asked if she would still visit and sent a covert plan for her to attend the funeral without his children knowing. Just before midnight, he texted, "Worst case scenario, what if they decide [that] I helped her?" Cain reassured him, "You were at work both times she went to the ER." Cain flew to Colorado on March 16. She and Craig hiked, dined at a sushi spot and spent the night together. The next day, he left to pick burial plots while she stayed behind. They met again for dinner, and he stayed in her hotel. At 2 a.m. March 19, police knocked on her hotel door and arrested Craig. "I told them, 'They're divorcing,'" Cain testified. In April, Craig began sending her handwritten love letters from jail. "Karin, you have ruined me — ruined me in all the best ways," he wrote. Another said, "I die a new death every day I cannot be near you." Cain initially burned two of the letters but then said she turned the rest of the letters over to detectives. She wrote one final reply, "Do not write me anymore." On cross-examination, defense attorney David Moses pressed Cain on what she didn't know. She said she had no idea Craig was still living with his wife, texting other women or had hired a prostitute in Las Vegas. "But he knew," Moses said. Cain replied. "Yes." "It was infatuation, right?" the defense asked. "It felt exciting, like a high school girl." Cain said. "It felt like love." A prosecutor closed by mentioning Craig's lies about still being married, still living at home and hiring a prostitute during the initial Las Vegas business trip. "Yes," Cain said, "a lot of what the defendant told me wasn't true." Carrie Hageseth, a Lyft driver and single mother, testified Wednesday that she met Craig on and the pair fell into a "sugar babies" relationship. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for said it is not a "sugar babies" website and it "strictly prohibit(s)" any form of transactional dating. "Our dating platform helps members build meaningful relationships based on shared ambitions and what truly makes them happy, be it romance, travel, luxury, freedom or whatever it is they aspire to in their connections," the spokesperson said. During one dinner, she testified, Craig referenced the movie "The Purge," in which there is one day when everyone can kill whomever they want without consequence. Craig, she testified, said that if he could "purge" someone, it would be his wife. He went into detail, Hageseth testified, describing how a person could be killed via injection without consequence. Hageseth went into the intimate details of their "arrangement," sharing that Craig paid for her daughter's car in exchange for sex. Fox News Digital has reached out to James Craig's lead attorney, Lisa Fine Moses, for comment.
