Latest news with #JacksonvilleSheriff'sOffice
5 hours ago
No criminality in viral video of man being repeatedly punched by deputies: Sheriff
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said it is investigating a viral video showing sheriff's deputies punching and beating a Black man during a traffic stop.
News18
13 hours ago
- News18
US Cop Breaks Car Window And Punches Black Man In Viral Video, Taken Off Duty
Last Updated: A police officer in Jacksonville was "stripped of his duties" after a viral video showing cops breaking a car window and punching a Black man in the face at a traffic stop. A police officer in Jacksonville, Florida, was 'stripped of his duties" on Monday after a video went viral on social media showing the cop breaking the window of a car and punching a Black man in the face during a traffic stop in February, according to authorities. The footage showed William McNeil Jr, 22, being pulled over by an officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office on February 19 for allegedly driving without his headlights on during the day, NBC News quoted Sheriff TK Waters as saying. McNeil was seen sitting in his car and asking to speak with a sergeant. McNeil argued that he did not turn on his headlights because it was broad daylight and it was not raining. He asked an officer to show him the law the cop was citing and asked to speak with a supervisor. Punched Twice, Shoved To Ground During the encounter, officers asked McNeil seven times to exit the vehicle. Moments later, another officer broke the driver's window and landed a punch in his face while instructing him to get out and show his hands. He was pulled from the vehicle and punched in the face by a cop again before being shoved to the ground by at least three officers. McNeil's lawyer, Harry Daniels, said he was scared and suspicious of the officers, which was not uncommon for African American men, given the history of racism in police encounters. 'So he decided to prop his phone and record it. They didn't know he was recording," he was quoted as saying by the People magazine. 'The officers could have easily dispatched a sergeant to the scene to de-escalate," he added. 'No Criminal Law Violated' The Sheriff gave a different version of the events, saying that McNeil did not follow the police officers' commands after being ordered out of the car, refused to show ID and locked his car. 'The law requires that a person comply with a police officer's command during a traffic stop. There are not options. Even if that person disagrees with that officer's reason for the stop," Waters said. Waters further informed that McNeil was arrested in connection with driving on a suspended driver's license, resisting a police officer without violence and possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana. He eventually pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer and driving on a suspended licence. The Sheriff said the officer, identified as D Bowers, was 'stripped of his law enforcement duties, effective immediately", but declined to commend or defend his violent response at the traffic stop. 'Just because force is ugly doesn't mean that it's unlawful or contrary to public policy," he added. 'These administrative reviews are ongoing, but the State Attorney's Office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law, even though the administrative review has yet to be completed." The interaction is now under internal review by the sheriff's office, he added. McNeil's lawyer said he suffered a concussion after the violent arrest and required multiple stitches after his tooth went through his lip. view comments First Published: July 22, 2025, 11:27 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Black America Web
15 hours ago
- Black America Web
Video Shows Florida Cops Beat Black Man After He Questioned Why He Was Stopped Over Headlights During Daytime
Source: Harry M. Daniels LLC / Wukela Communications Another day, another group of police officers exposed after committing egregious acts of police brutality against a Black man who was simply asking why he was pulled over and why he was being ordered to exit his vehicle. A video has recently gone viral, showing 22-year-old William McNeil Jr. being stopped by a Jacksonville, Florida, police officer on Feb. 19. The officer told McNeil he stopped him because his headlights weren't on, despite it appearing to be daytime. So, an understandably confused Black man points out that the cop's reason for the stop doesn't make sense. Then he's asked, for no discernible reason, to get out of his car, and when he doesn't immediately follow that demand, well, you can see in the video below what happens next. From ABC News: In the video, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office say they pulled McNeil over because the vehicle's headlights were not on. McNeil questioned the traffic stop because it wasn't raining and it was still light outside. An officer, who cannot be seen in the video, is heard saying, 'It doesn't matter, you're still required to have headlights on.' An officer asks McNeil to step out of the car, and when McNeil asks for the officer's supervisor, another officer punches the driver's window until it shatters. The officer then punches McNeil in the head before unlocking the vehicle door, unbuckling his seatbelt and forcibly removing him from the driver's seat. Once out of the vehicle, multiple officers then gather around McNeil. One officer is seen grabbing McNeil's head and punching him in the chin before forcing him to the ground. Florida law states clearly that motorists must use their headlights 'from sunset to sunrise, including twilight hours,' or 'during any rain, smoke, or fog.' So, the officer didn't have a real reason to pull McNeil over in the first place, and there's plenty of reason to wonder what the officer was really fishing for that prompted him to weasel his way around probable cause. While we're all wondering about that, we might as well wonder why McNeil's completely reasonable inquiry as to why he was pulled over was responded to by a demand that he exit his car. For what? To search him and his vehicle? Why? Did McNeil's failure to operate his headlights in broad daylight provide reasonable suspicion that he needed to be further detained and searched? It appears that even before breaking his car window, dragging him out and beating on him, these cops already had every intention of violating McNeil's civil rights, and their fragile blue egos sent them over the top once they saw McNeil wouldn't let said violations go unchallenged. On Sunday, civil attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels announced McNeil retained them to represent him. 'I am absolutely disgusted by the actions of these officers but, unfortunately, I'm not surprised,' Daniels said in a statement. 'The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has a long history of this kind of needless violence and brutality.' In his own statement, Crump noted correctly that 'it should be obvious to anyone watching this video that William McNeil wasn't a threat to anyone.' 'He was calmly exercising his constitutional rights, and they beat him for it,' he added. A statement sent to NewsOne from Crump's office reads: 'This is only the latest in a long line of excessive force incidents involving the JSO. In September 2023, the department was the focus of a national outcry after a video of JSO officers violently beating 24-year-old Le'Keian Woods while he was unarmed went viral. In 2019, JSO officers faced a federal lawsuit for killing 22-year-old Jamee Johnson after pulling him over for an alleged seat belt violation.' Meanwhile, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters issued a statement Sunday, saying, 'We are aware of a video circulating on social media showing a traffic stop represented to be from February 19, 2025.' 'We have launched an internal investigation into it and the circumstances surrounding this incident,' Waters continued. 'We hold our officers to the highest standards and are committed to thoroughly determining exactly what occurred.' It's worth noting that Waters announced this internal investigation a full five months after the incident took place, begging the question: Would there be any investigation at all if the video hadn't recently gone viral? These cops conducted what should be considered an illegal stop, broke McNeil's window, forcibly pulled him out of the car, and beat him like it was just another day. That's how ingrained police violence against Black people is in the very culture of policing. Hopefully, William McNeil Jr. receives all of the justice he is owed. SEE ALSO: Virginia Funeral Home Faces Lawsuit After Black Man Was Allegedly Found Covered In Maggots During Viewing NC Troopers Fired After Cover-Up In Black Man's Death, Attorneys Say It's 'Only One Step Towards Justice' SEE ALSO Video Shows Florida Cops Beat Black Man After He Questioned Why He Was Stopped Over Headlights During Daytime was originally published on
NBC News
18 hours ago
- NBC News
Video shows Florida officer punching a Black man during a traffic stop
A Jacksonville, Florida, police officer was "stripped of his duties" Monday after a video online showed the white officer punching a Black man in the face during a traffic stop in February, authorities said. William McNeil Jr., 22, was pulled over by an officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office on Feb. 19 for driving without his headlights on during the day, Sheriff T.K. Waters said at a news conference. In the video posted on Instagram on Saturday, McNeil is seen sitting in his car, asking to speak with a sergeant. He says he was pulled over because his headlights were off even though it was still daylight and not raining. 'It doesn't matter, you're still required to have headlights on,' an officer responds on the video. McNeil, sitting behind the steering wheel with his seat belt fastened, asks an officer to show him the law the officer was citing and asks to speak with a supervisor. Five seconds later, another officer breaks the driver's-side window and punches McNeil in the face while instructing him to get out of the car and show his hands. During the encounter, officers ask McNeil seven times to exit his vehicle. Waters said at the news conference that McNeil did not follow officers' commands after he was being ordered out of the car, which rose to the level of criminal resistance. 'The law requires that a person comply with a police officer's command during a traffic stop. There are not options,' Waters said. 'Even if that person disagrees with that officer's reason for the stop.' Waters said McNeil was arrested in connection with driving on a suspended driver's license, resisting a police officer without violence and possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana. McNeil eventually pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer and driving on a suspended license, Waters said. During the news conference, sheriff's officials showed three police body camera videos, none of which captured the moment when an officer identified only as "D. Bowers" punched McNeil in the face after he refused to get out of his car. McNeil recorded the interaction on his cellphone, which was in a holder on his dashboard. While the state attorney's office cleared Bowers and two other officers of any wrongdoing, it had not seen the punch, Waters said. The interaction is now under internal review by the sheriff's office, he said. "I will not commend nor defend Officer Bowers' response," Waters said, adding that Bowers waived his privacy rights to allow the body camera video to be released. "He's been stripped of his law enforcement duties, effective immediately. 'Just because force is ugly doesn't mean that it's unlawful or contrary to public policy.' Officers can be seen in the video pulling McNeil from his vehicle and punching him in the face again before they shove him to the ground, lacerating his chin. 'What the f–-- is wrong with you?' one of the officers says before another tells McNeil he is being arrested. At least five officers can be seen detaining him. The Instagram video had received more than 27,000 comments and been shared more than 100,00 times as of Monday afternoon. Another of McNeil's attorneys, Harry Daniels, said: 'William felt like his rights were being trampled upon by being stopped during the day for not having headlights on. That's a new one. 'The officers could have easily dispatched a sergeant to the scene to de-escalate,' he said. Waters said McNeil never filed a complaint with the department nor showed the video to authorities. In 2023, the city of Jacksonville paid $200,000 to the family of Jamee Johnson, a 22-year-old Black student at Florida A&M University, after an officer pulled him over and shot him during a traffic stop for a seat belt violation in 2019. The department came under scrutiny in 2023 after body camera video showed a detective striking Le'Keian Woods, a 24-year-old Black man, in the face at least twice and a second detective kneeing him as they repeated commands for him to show his hands. Woods had fled when officers tried to arrest him in connection with drug dealing and officers believed he was armed, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said at the time.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Driver asks cop for supervisor, then cops smash window, punch him, FL video shows
A driver pulled over for not having his lights on asked to speak to the Florida officer's supervisor, then the encounter turned violent, a viral video captured. Duval County records show the driver pleaded guilty to resisting an officer without violence and driving with a suspended license, but now he's retained two prominent civil rights attorneys, Harry Daniels and Ben Crump, to 'help him fight for justice,' Daniels said. Video of the incident posted by Daniels on Instagram was viewed nearly 70,000 times in the first 20 hours. Now, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says it's 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 in a statement. '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.' In his own social media post, Crump said the arrest report detailed the driver 'was verbally combative & reached for a knife — and doesn't mention him being punched in the face while in the car. But video shows him calm and showing his hands.' According to the arrest report, officers pulled the driver over for driving without his lights on in inclement weather. Officers wrote in the report that the driver refused to hand over his license, registration and proof of insurance, and the driver said it wasn't raining and that other people had their headlights off. In the video, the officer tells him he's still required to have his headlights on, and the driver asks him to pull up the law that specifies that. The officer replies, 'When you step out of the car I will.' 'Can you call your supervisor?' the driver asks. The officer can be heard saying, 'All right, go for it,' then the video shows another officer smash the driver's side window and yell for him to exit the vehicle as he punches the driver in the face. Officers tell him show his hands, and he puts them up, then officers unlock and open the door, the video shows. 'What is your reason, sir?' he asks as they begin unbuckling his seat belt and pulling him out of the car. 'Step out now,' one officer responds. A group of at least four officers converge on him, one grabbing him by the neck and punching him in the chin as the group tackles him to the ground, yelling at him to stop fighting and put his hands behind his back, according to the video. 'What's wrong with you?' one officer says, once he seems to be restrained out of frame of the video. 'I was putting my hands behind my back,' the driver can be heard saying in part, as another office tells him to stop. 'Ain't no talking now, man,' the officer says. They tell him he's under arrest, and he insists they 'don't have a lawful reason.' One officer says when they told him to step out of the vehicle, he should have done it. The arrest report says the driver was 'verbally combative,' and officers broke his window and removed him from the vehicle when he refused to comply. Officers wrote in the report he reached for a large knife on the floorboard. 'The suspect continued to attempt to pull away from officers and refused to place his hands behind his back,' officers wrote. 'Physical force was applied to the suspect and he was taken to the ground. The suspect still refused to place his arms behind his back.' Officers said after the scuffle, the driver was bleeding from his mouth and complained he had a chipped tooth. When investigators interviewed him, they wrote in the report that 'he recognized the officers to be law enforcement officers, but he did not want to speak to officers because he did not believe he had committed the violations for which he was cited.' Daniels said his client's arrest 'is only the latest in a long line of excessive force incidents involving the JSO.' No lawsuit has been announced yet.
