Latest news with #WilliamMcNeilJr
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Florida officer suspended over viral traffic stop footage
A Florida sheriff's office has suspended an officer who punched a driver in the face during a traffic stop that went viral. William McNeil Jr posted video of himself sitting in his car as the policeman smashed the window, hit him and dragged him to the ground in the city of Jacksonville on 19 February this year. After the clip spread online, police released bodycam footage that shows McNeil, 22, refusing demands to exit the vehicle after being told he has been pulled over for traffic violations. The sheriff's office said a state prosecutor had found no misconduct by the officers, but an internal review was also under way. In a news conference on Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters said: "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." But he said one officer, D Bowers, had been stripped of law-enforcement duties pending a review into whether he violated any of the sheriff's office policies. Sheriff Waters added: "A person must comply with an officer's commands, even if that person disagrees with that officer's reasons for the stop." Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing McNeil, said the incident was "a disturbing reminder" of historical racial violence by police against black Americans. Police released the bodycam footage on Monday, a day after McNeil posted his own clip to Instagram. The bodycam video shows the officer telling McNeil he has been pulled over for not wearing his seatbelt or having his headlights on in inclement weather. "It's daylight, I don't need the lights," says McNeil. He refuses to leave the vehicle and asks to speak to the officer's supervisor before locking the doors. After warning him to get out of the car for about three minutes, the officer smashes the window. The policeman wrote in his arrest report that he called for backup after McNeil refused requests to show his driver's license, registration and proof of insurance. In the arrest report, Officer Bowers wrote: "The suspect was reaching for the floor board of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting." In the video posted to social media by McNeil, his hands are up and visible as police unlock his seatbelt to drag him from the car. It is unclear if his seatbelt was fastened at the time police pulled him over. He pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer without violence and driving on a suspended driver's licence. He was sentenced to two days in jail. In his Instagram video, McNeil said his tooth was chipped and he required stitches to his mouth after the arrest, and suffered a concussion. "This was very hard to do I'm not mentally healed from this but I had to get the word out eventually," he wrote in the video caption.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Florida officer suspended over viral traffic stop footage
A Florida sheriff's office has suspended an officer who punched a driver in the face during a traffic stop that went McNeil Jr posted video of himself sitting in his car as the policeman smashed the window, hit him and dragged him to the ground in the city of Jacksonville on 19 February this the clip spread online, police released bodycam footage that shows McNeil, 22, refusing repeated demands to exit the vehicle after being told he has been pulled over for traffic sheriff's office said a state prosecutor had found no misconduct by the officers, but an internal review was also under way. In a news conference on Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters said: "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."But he said one officer, D Bowers, had been stripped of law-enforcement duties pending a review into whether he violated any of the sheriff's office Waters added: "A person must comply with an officer's commands, even if that person disagrees with that officer's reasons for the stop."Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing McNeil, said the incident was "a disturbing reminder" of historical racial violence by police against black released the bodycam footage on Monday, a day after McNeil posted his own clip to bodycam video shows the officer telling McNeil he has been pulled over for not wearing his seatbelt or having his headlights on in inclement weather."It's daylight, I don't need the lights," says refuses to leave the vehicle and asks to speak to the officer's supervisor before locking the warning him to get out of the car for about three minutes, the officer smashes the policeman wrote in his arrest report that he called for backup after McNeil refused requests to show his driver's license, registration and proof of the arrest report, Officer Bowers wrote: "The suspect was reaching for the floor board of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting."In the video posted to social media by McNeil, his hands are up and visible as police break the was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving with a suspended licence, and resisting an officer without pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer without violence and driving on a suspended driver's licence. He was sentenced to two days in his video posted on Instagram, McNeil said his tooth was chipped and he required stitches to his mouth after the arrest, and suffered a concussion."This was very hard to do I'm not mentally healed from this but I had to get the word out eventually," he wrote in the video's caption.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
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
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Video showing Florida deputy punching Black man goes viral
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - Civil rights advocates condemned the sheriff's department in Jacksonville, Florida, after a video of officers punching a Black man and throwing him to the ground during a February traffic stop went viral online. William McNeil Jr, 22, recorded the video as he sat in the driver's seat of his car after deputies pulled him over. In the video, he asks to speak to supervisors and questions why he was stopped. An officer then smashes the driver's side window, orders McNeil to exit the car and hits him in his face. Another officer pulls him from the vehicle and throws him to the ground as other deputies surround him. U.S. media outlets reported the video on Monday and Tuesday after McNeil posted it on social media. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said the public should not rush to judgment and that officers had asked McNeil several times to come out of his vehicle. McNeil's lawyers and civil rights group Black Lives Matter said the video showed police brutality. "This should not have happened," Black Lives Matter said on X. "But the police have never treated Black people like human beings." Waters told reporters that reviews of the incident were ongoing but the State Attorney's Office determined that none of the officers violated criminal law. Waters added that D. Bowers, the officer who broke the car window and punched McNeil, was stripped of his law enforcement authority pending the outcome of the reviews. McNeil was arrested and charged with resisting arrest, marijuana possession, driving with a suspended license, not wearing a seatbelt and not having headlights in bad weather, court records cited by ABC News showed. He was sentenced to and served two days in jail, the report added. In a police report, Bowers said McNeil was reaching toward an area where there was a knife. McNeil's attorneys - lawyers Ben Crump and Harry Daniels - said their client was never combative.
CTV News
9 hours ago
- CTV News
Video shows Florida deputies punching and dragging a Black man from his car
A video showing Florida deputies punching and dragging a Black man from his car during a traffic stop has sparked nationwide outrage, with civil rights lawyers accusing authorities of fabricating their arrest report. William McNeil Jr., 22, was sitting in the driver's seat, asking to speak to the Jacksonville deputies' supervisor, when authorities broke his window, punched him in the face, pulled him from the vehicle, punched him again and threw him to the ground. But Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters says there's more to the story than the cellphone video that went viral on the Internet. He warned the public about 'a rush to judgment' that could lead to faulty conclusions. McNeil's lawyers say the video clearly depicts police brutality. The footage from the Feb. 19 arrest shows that seconds before being dragged outside, McNeil had his hands up and did not appear to be resisting as he asked, 'What is your reason?' He had pulled over and accused of not having his headlights on, even though it was daytime, his lawyers said. 'What happened to William McNeil Jr. is 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,' lawyers Ben Crump and Harry Daniels said in a statement. Crump is a Black civil rights attorney who has gained national prominence representing victims of police brutality and vigilante violence. '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.' The sheriff said the cellphone camera footage from inside the car 'does not comprehensively capture the circumstances surrounding the incident.' 'Part of that stems from the distance and perspective of the recording cell phone camera,' the sheriff said in a statement, adding that the video did not capture events that occurred before officers decided to arrest McNeil. Cameras 'can only capture what can be seen and heard,' the sheriff added. '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.' A key point of contention in the police report is a claim that McNeil was reaching toward an area where a knife was. Deputies later found the knife on the driver's side floorboard of his car when they searched it after taking McNeil into custody. 'The suspect was reaching for the floorboard of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting,' Officer D. Bowers wrote in his report. 'The suspect continued to attempt to pull away from officers and refused to place his hands behind his back.' Bowers does not mention any punches being thrown in his report, and describes the force this way: 'Physical force was applied to the suspect and he was taken to the ground.' Crump and Daniels called that report a 'fabrication,' saying that 'he never reaches for anything.' 'The only time he moves at all is when the officer knocks him over by punching him in his face,' they said. 'Then this young man calmly sits back straight and holds his empty hands up.' 'He's never combative, never raises his voice and he certainly never reaches for a knife,' they added. 'He simply asks for a supervisor and then they break his window and beat him yet, somehow, the report failed to mention that.' McNeil was charged with resisting a police officer without violence; driving with a suspended licence and having less than 20 grams of marijuana, Waters said. He pleaded guilty to the charges of resisting an officer and driving with a suspended licence, Waters said. McNeil was warned seven times that he needed to open his car door and get out, or officers would be forced to break his car window, the sheriff said. Waters said the sheriff's office on Sunday became aware that the cellphone video was circulating on social media. Investigations then began, and the State Attorney's Office determined that no officers violated any criminal laws, he said at a news briefing. An 'administrative review' to determine whether officers violated any department policies is still ongoing, he said. Jeff Martin, The Associated Press
