Latest news with #WilliamAnthonyMcNeilJr
New York Times
23-07-2025
- New York Times
Inquiry Is Opened After Jacksonville Officer Punches Man Through His Car Window
A Black man whose car window was broken by a police officer and was then punched, dragged out of his car and thrown to the ground during a traffic stop in February said on Wednesday that he was 'really just scared' during the arrest, which the authorities said this week they were investigating. The man, William Anthony McNeil Jr., said at a news conference that he 'wanted to know why I needed to step out of the car' when he hadn't done anything wrong. His lawyer, Ben Crump, called for the officers involved to be forced out. 'Look at that video with your own eyes,' he said. 'Listen with your own ears. We have audio/visual evidence, proof of what happened.' The sheriff's office in Jacksonville, Fla., said on Monday said that it had opened an investigation into the episode. Body camera footage taken on Feb. 19 showed a white officer telling Mr. McNeil, 22, that he had been pulled over because his headlights were off during 'inclement' weather and because he was not wearing a seatbelt. Mr. McNeil questioned why his headlights needed to be on when it was not raining. He asked to speak with supervisors about why he was stopped and then closed his car door. An officer then smashed the driver's side window and struck Mr. McNeil in the face. Other officers pulled him out of the car and threw him on the ground. 'I was really just scared,' Mr. McNeil, a student at Livingstone College in North Carolina, said at the news conference on Wednesday. Cellphone footage taken by Mr. McNeil, which appeared to start a few minutes into their encounter, was circulated widely over the weekend on social media. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Washington Post
23-07-2025
- Washington Post
No charges for officers after man was punched during arrest, sheriff says
Prosecutors will not bring criminal charges against sheriff's officers who wrestled a Black man out of a car during a traffic stop and punched him multiple times, the local sheriff said Monday. Jacksonville, Florida, sheriff's officers stopped William Anthony McNeil Jr. on Feb. 19, telling him he didn't have his headlights on and wasn't wearing a seat belt, body-camera footage released by the sheriff's office shows. After McNeil, 22, questioned the reasons for the stop and refused to get out of the car, an officer smashed his window and punched him in the face. Police wrote in a report that before he was pulled out of the car, McNeil reached for the floorboard, where an unsheathed knife was later found. Publicly available video footage does not show him leaning down toward it. Sheriff T.K. Waters said Monday that local prosecutors 'have determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law.' The state attorney's office for the 4th Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. An investigation is ongoing into whether the officers violated department policy, Waters said. He said the officer who initiated the stop 'has been stripped of his law enforcement authority' in the meantime. The sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for more information. Waters said cellphone video of the arrest, recently shared on social media, did not tell the full story. 'Moreover, cameras can only capture what can be seen and heard,' he said at a news conference Monday. 'So much context and depth are absent from recorded footage because a camera simply cannot capture what is known to the people depicted in it.' Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, attorneys for McNeil, said in a statement that the incident was a 'disturbing reminder that even the most basic rights — like asking why you've been pulled over — can be met with violence for Black Americans.' 'William was calm and compliant,' they said. 'Yet instead of answers, he got his window smashed and was punched in the face, all over a questionable claim about headlights in broad daylight. This wasn't law enforcement, it was brutality.' Footage from officers' body cameras, as well as video from McNeil's cellphone, show what happened during the arrest: As an officer approached McNeil's car, McNeil opened the door and looked out. The officer told him he was pulled over for not having his headlights on during 'inclement weather' and not wearing a seat belt. McNeil responded that it was daylight and not raining. When the officer asked to see McNeil's license, registration and proof of insurance, McNeil told him to call the officer's supervisor and asked again why he was pulled over. The officer radioed for backup and told McNeil to get out of the car. McNeil instead closed the door, the video shows. The officer then told McNeil that he was under arrest for resisting. The longer McNeill took to comply, the officer said, 'the worse it's going to be.' The officer repeatedly ordered McNeil to get out of the car and warned that he otherwise would break a window, according to the video. Another officer arrived and spoke with McNeil through the passenger-side window. McNeil again refused to get out of the car, the video shows. Then the first officer smashed the driver-side window and struck McNeil across his face, according to the video. McNeil presented his hands when asked, lifting them a second time as officers pulled him out of the car, the video shows. Multiple officers surrounded McNeil, and the first officer punched him in the face again as they pinned him to the ground, the footage shows. The officers told McNeil to 'stop fighting' and put his hands behind his back as they handcuffed him. McNeil said that he had suffered a chipped tooth and that officers saw blood on his mouth, according to a police report. Asked about the claim that McNeil had reached toward the knife, Waters said he couldn't see from the video where McNeil's hands were at that point in the arrest. 'All I can go by when I read those things is what's stated in the report,' Waters said at the news conference. 'I'm not saying whether it's true or whether it's not. I'm saying no one sees his hands at that point.' McNeil later pleaded guilty to resisting an officer without violence and driving with a suspended license. He was sentenced to two days of time served. On Monday, Waters acknowledged that officers used force during the arrest and said that 'force absolutely looks ugly.' 'And because all force is ugly, whether or not the officer involved acted within or outside of JSO [Jacksonville Sheriff's Office] policy, that's still what we're investigating,' he said. Waters added that motorists are required to comply with officers' commands during traffic stops. 'There are not options,' he said. 'If you disagree, take care of it someplace else, but not on the side of the road.' The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has experienced other allegations of excessive force in recent years and has maintained that officers acted appropriately. Crump and Daniels said in their statement that McNeil's arrest was reminiscent of that of Le'Keian Woods, who was slammed to the ground in 2023. Waters previously said that officers in that case 'acted appropriately,' but he acknowledged that the incident was 'ugly.'
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Yahoo
Body camera footage released after violent Florida traffic stop goes viral
A Florida sheriff has released body camera footage of a violent traffic stop in which officers were seen smashing a man's window and repeatedly punching him. The latest video of the Feb. 19 arrest of William Anthony McNeil Jr. shows the perspective of two officers responding to the stop that began when McNeil was pulled over for a headlight and seatbelt violation in Jacksonville. The new body camera videos show officers confronting McNeil – and punching him – after he questioned why he was pulled over and refused to get out of the car. The release comes after cellphone video McNeil recorded of his interaction with officers gained viral traction online. That footage prompted a criminal review that ended with prosecutors clearing the law enforcement officials of any wrongdoing. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters explains what happened when officers used deadly force on a suspect July 15, 2025. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said at a news conference on July 21 that "one video devoid of context can be very misleading," referring to the cellphone footage that sparked backlash over the agency's handling of the traffic stop. Waters also said McNeil was in possession of marijuana and officers found a knife in the vehicle. D.J. Bowers, the officer who smashed McNeil's window and punched him at least twice, has been put on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal review of whether he violated the agency's policies. In a separate criminal review, local prosecutors determined "none of the involved officers violated criminal law," Waters said. McNeil retained civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels to represent him. 'This wasn't law enforcement, it was brutality," McNeil's legal team said in a joint statement on July 21. "We demand full accountability from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and justice for William McNeil Jr." William McNeil Jr. is shown as his driver's side window is broken by police during a traffic stop in February 2025. Two days after his arrest, McNeil pleaded guilty to resisting police without violence and driving with a suspended license, court records show. He was sentenced to two days already served in jail, and a misdemeanor marijuana charge was dropped. McNeil repeatedly struck by officers during traffic stop, arrest The body camera footage begins with Officer Bowers approaching McNeil and telling him he was stopped for not having his headlights on during "inclement weather" as well as a seatbelt violation. McNeil, speaking to Bowers through his open front door because his driver's side window wasn't working, said he did not need to have his headlights on because "it's daylight" and "it's not raining." McNeil then refused to provide his license and registration and requested to speak with a supervisor. After Bowers told him to step out of the vehicle, McNeil said "no" and closed the door. Footage shows Bowers trying to open it before he radioed that it was locked. 'Right now, you're under arrest for resisting," Bowers said. "The longer you take … the worse it's gonna be.' When another officer pulled in front of McNeil's car, Bowers said "Sir, this is your last warning to open the vehicle and exit before we are going to break the window." A short while later, McNeil lowered the passenger window and spoke briefly with another officer. Bowers again said he was about to break the window and was told to "go for it" by a fellow officer. Bowers smashed in the driver's side window and punched McNeil in the head. McNeil, who remained nonviolent, raised his hands and asked "What is your reason, sir?" Officers pulled McNeil out of the car and forced him to the ground, where body camera video shows officers striking him as he was face down on the pavement. In McNeil's cellphone footage, it appears Bowers punched him in the head after he was taken out of the car and before he was brought to the ground. Footage shows McNeil's face bloodied after the scuffle. Near the end of the footage, Bowers radioed in for a unit to look at a cut on McNeil's lip. Contributing: Steve Patterson, The Florida Times-Union This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New footage released after violent traffic stop in Florida goes viral
