William McNeil Jr., a 22-year-old Black man whose violent encounter with Jacksonville Sheriff’s Workplace (JSO) officers has sparked nationwide outrage, has retained civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Ben Crump to signify him in his battle for justice.
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The incident, which occurred on February 19, gained widespread consideration after a video surfaced exhibiting JSO officers smashing McNeil’s automobile window and punching him repeatedly within the face. The confrontation reportedly escalated after McNeil requested to talk with a supervisor throughout a site visitors cease.
Within the footage, McNeil might be heard asking officers why he was pulled over. They responded that his headlights have been off. When McNeil identified that it was daytime and never raining, an officer advised him it “didn’t matter” — moments earlier than the bodily altercation started.
Courtroom data present that McNeil was arrested and charged with “resisting arrest with out violence to his or her particular person,” possessing no more than 20 grams of marijuana with intent to make use of drug paraphernalia, driving whereas driver’s license is suspended, not sporting a seatbelt and no headlights in rain/fog/or smoke.
Moreover, courtroom data present that he was sentenced to and served two days in jail for resisting arrest with out violence and driving with a suspended license.
In line with experiences, the State Lawyer’s Workplace had cleared Officer Donald Bowers and the opposite officers concerned within the Feb. 19 arrest of William McNeil Jr. of any wrongdoing.
“That is solely the newest in a protracted line of extreme drive incidents involving the JSO,” mentioned Daniels. “The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Workplace has a protracted historical past of this sort of pointless violence and brutality.”
The division has confronted repeated scrutiny in recent times. In September 2023, JSO officers got here below hearth after a video confirmed them violently beating 24-year-old Le’Keian Woods, who was unarmed on the time. In 2019, a federal lawsuit was filed after JSO officers shot and killed 22-year-old Jamee Johnson throughout a site visitors cease over an alleged seat belt violation.
Crump, who has represented households in among the nation’s most high-profile police brutality instances, mentioned the video speaks for itself.
“It ought to be apparent to anybody watching this video that William McNeil wasn’t a risk to anybody,” mentioned Crump. “He was calmly exercising his constitutional rights they usually beat him for it.”
Crump, a well-recognized determine in Florida’s civil rights panorama, has dealt with a number of police misconduct instances statewide and is thought for representing the households of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd.
Click on HERE to view video of the incident.
