Florida man punched in face by cops during viral traffic stop sues sheriff and city of Jacksonville
A 22-year-old man who went viral after video showed Florida police smashing his car window and punching him multiple times in the face has sued the city and the sheriff’s department.
William McNeil Jr. filed the suit Wednesday in Jacksonville, alleging that during the incident he had sustained a range of injuries, including “an ongoing traumatic brain injury.”
McNeil, who is Black, was pulled over by Jacksonville officer Donald Bowers in February and used his phone to record the encounter, in which his window was broken and he was violently pulled from his vehicle.
The civil lawsuit, seen by The Independent, names Bowers as a defendant alongside Sheriff Thomas Waters and the city of Jacksonville. The officers involved in the incident escaped criminal charges after the Florida State Attorney’s Office concluded they did not violate any criminal laws.
“Mr. McNeil was struck in the face by Defendant Bowers while seated in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, during which time he posed no immediate threat to Defendant Bowers or any other individuals,” the suit states.
“Subsequently, Mr. McNeil was again struck in the face by Defendant Bowers after being forcibly removed from his vehicle, and once more, he did not pose a threat, nor did he resist Defendant Bowers with violence.”
After being removed, Bowers “forcefully slammed” McNeil’s head and face into the pavement, the suit alleges, “again without any threat or resistance.”
The altercation resulted in lacerations to McNeil’s chin and lip, a fractured tooth, and a closed head injury, pictures of which were included in the complaint. McNeil has also reportedly been diagnosed with “an ongoing traumatic brain injury” following the incident.
In addition, the lawsuit states that through Waters the sheriff’s office “enforces a policy that allows its officers to utilize unwarranted and excessive physical force against an individual who poses no immediate threat to the officer or to others.”
The practice is commonly referred to as “distractionary blows,” the suit states, adding that the office policy also allows its officers to refrain from reporting instances of force “when the physical force applied to an individual did not lead to, or was claimed to have led to, any injury.”
“This policy creates a setting that promotes its officers to engage in illegal or excessive use of force without the fear of encountering any repercussions or consequences, nor the obligation to report such actions.”
McNeil is seeking $200,000 in damages from the defendants.
The Independent has contacted the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the City of Jacksonville for comment about the civil lawsuit.
McNeil’s attorney, Harry Daniels, previously noted that his client was “afraid” during the encounter and noted that in “this environment…young men of color are very afraid of police.” McNeil’s arrest report states that at one point he “was reaching for the floorboard of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting,” First Coast News reported.
“The narrative in this report isn’t just suspicious, it is completely divorced from reality, Daniels told the outlet.
