Cops in Florida who beat a young Black man to face no charges – so the community steps in

A fundraiser for young Black man William McNeil Jr from Jacksonville Florida has gone viral in response to the disgusting, but all too predictable announcement from local prosecutors to let the cops who brutalised him off the hook.

No consequences for Florida cops that brutalised William McNeil Jr

In February, Florida cops pulled over 22-year-old William McNeil Jr. He was on his way home from mentoring local youth in his community.

McNeil savvily recorded the encounter – which exposed the Florida cops’ deplorable violence towards him during the incident. In an appalling scene, the officers smash in his car window before punching him in the face and violently dragging him from the vehicle and assaulting him:

 

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The footage clearly shows McNeil simply asking the officers their reasons for demanding he exit the car. Instead of answering, the cops quickly got violent.

But of course, the Florida force has been doing what all cops do best: lying through their teeth about the events. It was the usual claims. As the Washington Post reported:

Police wrote in a report that before he was pulled out of the car, McNeil reached for the floorboard, where an unsheathed knife was later found.

However, the outlet then noted that:

Publicly available video footage does not show him leaning down toward it.

Unsurprisingly, further police body-cam footage the Jacksonville sheriff’s office has just released also showed no such thing:

 

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It provided further context. Officers told him they’d pulled him over for not having his headlights on – in visibly broad daylight – before savagely attacking him.

Police impunity, as ever

They arrested William McNeil Jr for possession of marijuana, resisting an officer without violence, and driving with a suspended license. McNeil pleaded guilty to the latter two, and a court served him a two-day prison sentence.

Police waving drug laws around and targeting Black communities for criminalisation? It’s obviously nothing new from the rabidly racist US police and state, as something they’ve disproportionality done for a past-time.

But police keep us safe, right?

Of course, nothing can remotely justify the cops vindictively brutalising McNeil. McNeil has described how the assault left him:

not only traumatized but also with a chipped tooth, multiple stitches in my lip, a concussion, and short-term memory loss.

Yet, according to the Jacksonville sheriff T.K. Waters, prosecutors in Florida have already said they won’t be charging the officers involved.

A violent encounter with cops comes at an unconscionable cost

In a press conference on Wednesday, William McNeil Jr spoke out for the first time about the experience:

 

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Understandably still broken from the atrocious incident, McNeil spoke of his fear in the moment and the fact he’d done nothing wrong.

Now, people are stepping up to support him where the state won’t. McNeil has set up a fundraiser, after many asked him to do so.

Naturally, the hugely traumatising incident has had a huge ongoing impact on him in multiple unconscionable ways. He wrote on the fundraiser that:

I faced several charges that forced me to seek legal representation, which I could not afford. The incident resulted in significant medical bills, and I am unable to repair my car. The mental, emotional, and psychological distress has made it challenging for me to maintain steady employment. I am uncertain if I am mentally or physically prepared to return to college in Fall 2025, which was my intention before this incident. What should have been a typical day for me has turned into an uncertain future due to a violent encounter that should never have occurred. I am raising $10,000.00 to help cover medical expenses, auto repairs, recoup legal fees, and to support myself as I recover and work towards rebuilding my life.

Already, it has outstripped its original $10,000 goal. At the time of publication, more than 500 people have donated over $15,000 to help McNeil seek justice.

Support McNeil where the state won’t

Ultimately, the racist cops were arguably looking for any excuse to pull over and beat an unarmed Black man – and William McNeil Jr was the unlucky first to cross their paths. The scene with officers grabbing his head and pushing him to the ground could be switched out with George Floyd footage from 2020, and you’d notice no difference. And US cops murdering Black people in traffic stops has long been systemic.

In 2016, cops in Minnesota shot dead 32-year-old Philando Castile in a traffic stop. In 2021, police killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright, after pulling him over for an expired registration and an air freshener. The list goes on – and the violence never stops.

In the press conference with McNeil, a speaker on stage noted that:

it could have been a different result if he hadn’t kept his demeanor.

And he was right. But it also speaks to a lengths Black, brown, and racially minoritised people have to go to maintain the image of the perfect victim as well. When it comes down to it, the virulently white supremacy that victim-blames Black folks to uphold systemic police violence against their communities is what McNeil’s footage and story has captured in a nutshell.

The US state, and indeed Western white supremacist nations the world over, will never protect the communities their status quo is dependent on marginalising.

As ever, McNeil’s experience is a torrid tale in repulsive police impunity. But mutual aid is standing up to this abominable injustice. At the end of the day, it’s communities that keep communities safe – and we must continue to do so.

You can donate to William McNeil Jr’s fundraiser here.

Featured image via screengrab