23-07-2025
Officer Seen Punching Black Driver During Traffic Stop Didn't Violate the Law, Prosecutor Says
A Jacksonville, Fla., sheriff's officer who was recorded in a cellphone video punching a Black man in the face during a traffic stop in February did not violate criminal law during the man's arrest, the State Attorney's Office says.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said the State Attorney's Office had cleared Officer Donald Bowers and the other officers involved in the Feb. 19 arrest of William McNeil Jr. of any wrongdoing. A video recorded by McNeil shows Bowers breaking the driver's side window and punching him after McNeil refused to get out of the SUV he had been driving.
At a news conference Monday evening, Waters released video from Bowers' body-worn camera and those of two assisting officers — none of which captured Bowers striking McNeil.
McNeil recorded a two-minute video of the traffic stop using his cellphone, which was mounted on the SUV's dashboard. Sheriff Waters said the footage "does not comprehensively capture the circumstances surrounding the incident," including what occurred prior to McNeil's arrest.
Waters said McNeil was warned seven times to exit his vehicle and told that officers would break his car window if he refused. He also allegedly declined to provide his driver's license or registration. Waters said that McNeil's alleged "non-compliance" "quickly rose to the level of criminal resistance to a police officer."
"There are not options," Waters said at the news conference. "If you disagree, take care of it someplace else but not on the side of the road."
In McNeil's video, which was widely shared online, he says he was pulled over because his headlights were off even though it was still daylight and not raining, to which an officer off camera responds, 'It doesn't matter, you're still required to have headlights on."
Related: Viral Video Shows Fla. Officers Punch Black Man After He Questions Why Headlights Were Required in Daylight
McNeil, with his seatbelt fastened, then asks the officer to show him the law he was citing and also asks to speak to a supervisor. Moments later, Bowers breaks the driver's side window, hits McNeil in the face and tells him to show his hands and get out of the car.
Bowers' response is under internal review to determine whether he violated department policy, Waters said, and he has been administratively reassigned pending the outcome of the review, the sheriff's office tells PEOPLE.
Waters said he learned of McNeil's video on Sunday, after his attorneys, Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, released it and it went viral.
"We were not aware of this allegation or of improper use of force before this weekend," Waters said Monday.
McNeil's arrest report obtained by PEOPLE alleges he had reached for the floor of the SUV, "where a large knife was sitting." However, Waters acknowledged at the news conference that based on all of the videos, it was unclear whether this was true.
McNeil was arrested and pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer without violence and driving with a suspended license, according to court records. The court records also show two drug-related charges and citations for not wearing a seatbelt and driving without headlights were dismissed.
The State's Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether McNeil's video had factored into its decision not to charge Bowers. McNeil is scheduled to speak publicly about his arrest alongside his attorneys at a news conference Wednesday, July 23.
Read the original article on People
