A white Jacksonville police officer has been stripped of his duties after a video surfaced showing him punching a 22-year-old Black man during a February traffic stop in Florida.The footage, captured on William McNeil Jr.’s dashboard-mounted phone and widely circulated on social media, shows him calmly seated in his vehicle, requesting a sergeant after being stopped for allegedly driving without headlights during daylight. McNeil explains, “It’s daytime, it’s not raining,” to which the officer replies, “It doesn’t matter, you’re still required to have headlights on.”McNeil, wearing a seatbelt, continues to seek legal clarification and supervision. Moments later, another officer is seen smashing the driver’s side window and punching McNeil in the face while yelling for him to exit the vehicle and show his hands. Additional footage shows McNeil being dragged out, struck again, and forced to the ground, sustaining a chin injury. “What the f–— is wrong with you?” one officer is heard saying before announcing the arrest. Five officers were involved in the detention.
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At a press briefing Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters confirmed the officer who punched McNeil- identified as Officer D. Bowers- has been “stripped of his law enforcement duties, effective immediately.” Waters said Bowers voluntarily waived his privacy rights to allow the release of police body camera footage, though the punch itself was not captured on any of the three bodycams reviewed by investigators, according to NBC News.The stop took place on February 19. McNeil was charged with driving on a suspended license, resisting an officer without violence, and possession of a small amount of cannabis. He later pleaded guilty to the first two charges, according to the sheriff.Sheriff Waters defended the legality of the stop and the obligation to comply with police orders, stating, “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.” However, he declined to defend Bowers’ actions, noting, “I will not commend nor defend Officer Bowers’ response.”Despite the incident being recorded on McNeil’s phone, Waters said the state attorney cleared all three officers involved, in part because none had seen the punch firsthand.Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, representing McNeil, condemned the response: “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.” Jacksonville Sheriff’s office has launched an internal investigation amid footage going viral and widespread backlash.
