Jacksonville Sheriff releases officer body-cam video of William McNeil Jr viral traffic stop video
By: -----
Jacksonville, FL - 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 no 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.