William ‘Will’ McNeil Jr. is the latest Black man to become a national topic over a law enforcement interaction. The 22-year-old released the February traffic stop video earlier this week involving at least three Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office deputies. Will’s video depicted cops seemingly escalating a simple traffic stop over headlight use to physical violence. By the end, Will’s driver’s window was shattered, he had a chipped tooth, and needed nine lip stitches.
In a presser on Monday, Sheriff T.K. Waters said the viral video doesn’t paint the whole picture. His agency has since released bodycam footage. Now, social media is weighing in on whether the incident reflects excessive use of force and police brutality. Or was it a lack of compliance from McNeil Jr., like the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office suggested?
RELATED: Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Investigating After Traffic Stop Leaves 22-Year-Old With Chipped Tooth & 9 Lip Stitches (VIDEO)
William McNeil Jr. Speaks Out At Press Conference
According to the Associated Press, McNeil Jr. is a biology major who played in the marching band at Livingstone College, a historically Black Christian college in Salisbury, North Carolina.
For context, McNeil said in his viral post that he’s still not fully mentally healed from the encounter. He also apologized to his loved ones for his changed behavior since the incident. At a news conference in Jacksonville on Wednesday, the 22-year-old spoke softly and made a few brief comments. His family and civil rights attorneys were by his side.
“That day I just really wanted to know why I was getting pulled over and why I needed to step out of the car,” he said. “I knew I didn’t do nothing wrong. I was really just scared,” Will McNeil Jr. said.
McNeil was charged with resisting a police officer without violence, driving with a suspended license, and having less than 20 grams of marijuana. He pleaded guilty to resisting an officer and driving with a suspended license.
What Will’s Viral Video Shows vs. Officer Bodycam Footage
Body camera footage of the traffic stop shows an officer repeatedly telling McNeil to exit the vehicle. And, though he had his car door open earlier while talking with the deputies, he later closed it. The 22-year-old then appeared to keep it locked for about three minutes until the officers forcibly removed him, the bodycam video shows. The vantage point of the released body camera footage makes it difficult to see the punches cops reportedly threw at McNeil’s body. Watch the body cam footage starting at mark 06:40 below.
Meanwhile, the cellphone footage from the Feb. 19 arrest shows that seconds before Officer D. Bowers dragged McNeil outside, McNeil had his hands up and did not appear to be resisting. He also asked, “What is your reason?” He had pulled over and had been accused of not having his headlights on, even though it was daytime, his lawyers said. On Wednesday, Attorney Crump said his client had every right to ask why he was being pulled over and to ask for a supervisor.
Jacksonville Arrest Report Missed & Added Details Not Seen In Incident Videos
Footage of the violent arrest has sparked nationwide outrage. In an earlier statement, Ben Crump said:
“Crump added that their client was attacked for exercising his rights. In the statement, he wrote, “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.”
Since then, William McNeil Jr.’s reps have also accused the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office of fabricating the 22-year-old’s arrest report. A key point of debate from the police report is about a knife. The report claims Will McNeil Jr. 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.”
Meanwhile, Bowers does not mention any punches being thrown in his report. Instead, he describes the force this way: “Physical force was applied to the suspect and he was taken to the ground.”
In a separate report, a second officer describes knocking McNeil to the ground by grabbing his legs and driving his shoulders into him. Then, he delivered six closed-fist punches to the hamstring of McNeil’s right thigh, he said. “After delivering the six closed fist strikes, the subject stopped resisting” and was handcuffed by another officer, he wrote.
