A Black college student shown on video being punched and dragged from his car by Florida law officers during a traffic stop faces a long recovery from injuries that include a concussion and a broken tooth that pierced his lip and led to several stiches, his lawyers said Wednesday.
At a news conference in Jacksonville, 22-year-old William McNeil Jr. spoke softly as he made a few brief comments with his family and civil rights attorneys by his side.
鈥淭hat 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.鈥
McNeil is a biology major who played in the marching band at Livingstone College, a historically Black Christian college in Salisbury, North Carolina, Livingstone President Anthony Davis said.
The encounter with law enforcement happened in February, but the arrest didn't capture much attention until the video from McNeil's car-mounted camera went viral over the weekend. That's when the sheriff said he became aware of it and opened an internal investigation, which is ongoing. The sheriff said a separate probe by the State Attorney's Office cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing 鈥 a finding fiercely criticized by McNeil's lawyers.
Video from inside the car captures him being punched
Footage of the violent arrest has sparked nationwide outrage, with civil rights lawyers accusing authorities of fabricating their arrest report.
The video filmed by McNeil's camera shows him sitting in the driver's seat, asking to speak to the Jacksonville officers' supervisor, when they broke his window, punched him in the face, pulled him from the vehicle, and then punched him again. He was then knocked to the ground by an officer who delivered six closed-fist punches to the hamstring of his right thigh, police reports show.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday defended law enforcement officers and implied the video was posted to advance a 鈥渘arrative鈥 and generate attention on social media.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what happens in so many of these things," DeSantis said. "There鈥檚 a rush to judgment. There鈥檚 a, there鈥檚 a desire to try to get views and clicks by creating division.鈥
DeSantis says he hasn't seen the video, but backs law enforcement
DeSantis said he hasn't reviewed the viral video but has 鈥渆very confidence鈥 in Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, who has urged the public not to cast judgement based on the footage alone.
鈥淚f people get out of line, he鈥檚 going to hold them accountable,鈥 DeSantis said.
Body camera footage of the encounter shows McNeil had been repeatedly told to exit the vehicle. And, though he earlier had his car door open while talking with an officer, he later closed it and appeared to keep it locked for about three minutes before the officers forcibly removed him, the video shows. The vantage point of the body camera footage that was released makes it difficult to see the punches that were thrown.
The cellphone footage from the Feb. 19 arrest shows that seconds before being dragged outside, McNeil had his hands up and did not appear to be resisting as he asked, 鈥淲hat is your reason?鈥 He had pulled over and had been accused of not having his headlights on, even though it was daytime, his lawyers said.
On Wednesday, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said his client had every right to ask why he was being pulled over and to ask for a supervisor.
Sheriff: Officers have been cleared of committing any crimes
The State Attorney鈥檚 Office determined that the officers did not violate any criminal laws, the sheriff said. No one from the State Attorney's Office ever interviewed McNeil, said Crump.
Daniels called their investigation 鈥渁 whitewashing.鈥
鈥淏ut for that video, we would not be here,鈥 Daniels said. 鈥淎nd we thank God Mr. McNeil had the courage to record.鈥
Asked about the criticism of the State Attorney's review, a spokesman for the office said Wednesday that 鈥渁 memo to McNeil鈥檚 file will be finalized in the coming days that will serve as our comment.鈥
Shortly after his arrest, McNeil pleaded guilty to charges of resisting an officer without violence and driving with a suspended license, Waters said.
Civil rights attorneys call for accountability
鈥淎merica, we're better than this, we're at a crossroads," Crump said. "We are a Democracy, we believe in the Constitution. We are not a police state where the police can do anything they want to citizens without any accountability.鈥
Crump said his client remained calm while the officers who are trained to deescalate tense situations were the ones escalating violence. He said the case harkened back to the Civil Rights movement, when Black people were often attacked when they tried to assert their rights.
鈥淲hat he exhibited was a 21st century Rosa Parks moment where an African American had the audacity to say 鈥業 deserve equal justice under the law. I deserve to be treated like a human being with all the respect that a human being is entitled to.鈥欌
The sheriff has pushed back on some of the claims by Crump and lawyer Harry Daniels, saying the cellphone camera footage from inside the car 鈥渄oes not comprehensively capture the circumstances surrounding the incident.鈥
鈥淧art of that stems from the distance and perspective of the recording cell phone camera,鈥 the sheriff said in a statement, adding that the video did not capture events that occurred before officers decided to arrest McNeil.
Cameras 鈥渃an only capture what can be seen and heard,鈥 the sheriff added. 鈥淪o much context and depth are absent from recorded footage because a camera simply cannot capture what is known to the people depicted in it.鈥
Many of the speakers at Wednesday's news conference said they hope the Florida case results in accountability so that what happened to McNeil doesn't happen to others.
鈥淚t's incumbent upon everyone to understand that this could have been us, this could have been me, this could have been you,鈥 civil rights lawyer Gerald Griggs said.
鈥-
Associated Press writer Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed.
