William McNeil Jr., a 22-year-old Black man whose violent encounter with Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) officers has sparked national outrage, has retained civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Ben Crump to represent him in his fight for justice.
The incident, which occurred on February 19, gained widespread attention after a video surfaced showing JSO officers smashing McNeil’s car window and punching him repeatedly in the face. The confrontation reportedly escalated after McNeil asked to speak with a supervisor during a traffic stop.
In the footage, McNeil can be heard asking officers why he was pulled over. They responded that his headlights were off. When McNeil pointed out that it was daytime and not raining, an officer told him it “didn’t matter” — moments before the physical altercation began.
Court records show that McNeil was arrested and charged with “resisting arrest without violence to his or her person,” possessing not more than 20 grams of marijuana with intent to use drug paraphernalia, driving while driver’s license is suspended, not wearing a seatbelt and no headlights in rain/fog/or smoke.
Additionally, court records show that he was sentenced to and served two days in jail for resisting arrest without violence and driving with a suspended license.
According to reports, 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.
“This is only the latest in a long line of excessive force incidents involving the JSO,” said Daniels. “The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has a long history of this kind of needless violence and brutality.”
The department has faced repeated scrutiny in recent years. In September 2023, JSO officers came under fire after a video showed them violently beating 24-year-old Le’Keian Woods, who was unarmed at the time. In 2019, a federal lawsuit was filed after JSO officers shot and killed 22-year-old Jamee Johnson during a traffic stop over an alleged seat belt violation.
Crump, who has represented families in some of the nation’s most high-profile police brutality cases, said the video speaks for itself.
“It should be obvious to anyone watching this video that William McNeil wasn’t a threat to anyone,” said Crump. “He was calmly exercising his constitutional rights and they beat him for it.”
Crump, a familiar figure in Florida’s civil rights landscape, has handled multiple police misconduct cases statewide and is known for representing the families of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd.
Click HERE to view video of the incident.
