Prosecutors recently announced that they will take “no further action” against the sheriff’s deputy who forced 22-year-old William McNeil out of a car and beat him at a traffic stop.
Announced through an investigative report released by the State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida, prosecutors said that the actions of Officer D. Bowers did not “constitute a crime” and that the cellphone footage captured by McNeil was “incomplete in scope.”
The prosecutors also wrote that they believed that the stop was lawful. According to the report, Bowers stopped McNeil for not having headlights on as well as not buckling his seatbelt after seeing his SUV parked outside of a house he was surveilling for alleged drug activity.
Per the prosecutors, the deputy allegedly gave “lawful commands’ that were disobeyed by McNeil when he exercised his rights and questioned why he was stopped. McNeil also declined to immediately provide his license and registration as he questioned the stop and kept the car door locked, although he had previously opened the door to talk to the officers.
In a statement, McNeil’s lawyers, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, highlighted the lack of due process in the lead-up to the report.
“Frankly, we expected nothing less, especially after Sheriff Waters announced their conclusions more than three weeks before the report was issued,” said Crump and Daniels per the statement. “Since they are unwilling to seek justice, we will have to request that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate this incident and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.”
The footage of McNeil’s Feb. 19th arrest went viral, with organizations such as Amnesty International calling for the end of racial profiling and excessive force.
In the video, the 22-year-old can be seen asking for information on why he was pulled over; as he was told that he was pulled over for not having headlights on and his seatbelt buckled during “inclement weather,” McNeil can be seen replying that it is “daytime and not raining.”
After the officer responded with requests for back-up instead of providing more clarification, the driver promptly closed the door and refused to leave the car without a proper explanation.
After providing a warning, the officer can be seen smashing the window and hitting McNeil in the face. Although he presented his hands when asked, McNeil is next seen being pulled out of the car and beaten by the officers.
He was left with a chipped tooth and a concussion. McNeil also required nine stitches following the altercation.
