MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Jacksonville, Florida, sheriff’s office is investigating a traffic stop where a deputy punched a Black driver in the face. The driver’s video of the February arrest went viral on Sunday. Body camera footage from three officers involved was released the next day. Dan Scanlan with member station WJCT in Jacksonville reports.

DAN SCANLAN, BYLINE: The police report says 22-year-old Will McNeil Jr. was pulled over just after 4:15 p.m. on February 19 because his vehicle did not have its headlights or taillights lit in inclement weather. The officer also wrote that the driver was not wearing his seat belt. McNeil, however, is shown wearing a seat belt on his video, which he apparently shot from a camera mounted on his dashboard. He tells the officer that it’s not raining but is told he has to have his lights on, as heard on his video.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER #1: You’re still required to have headlights on.

WILL MCNEIL JR: What? Can you pull that law up?

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER #1: Huh?

MCNEIL: Can you pull that law up?

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER #1: Yeah. When you step out of the car, I will.

MCNEIL: Can you pull the – can you call your supervisor? Can you call your supervisor?

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER #2: All right, go for it.

(SOUNDBITE OF GLASS SMASHING)

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER #1: Exit the vehicle now. Exit the vehicle.

SCANLAN: McNeil stays in his seat as an officer smashes the window, a fist grazing his chin. That’s followed by another punch before an officer opens his door. McNeil holds up both hands, then sits back before he’s pulled out. He asks why he’s being arrested, then is shoved down as a police officer is seen punching McNeil in the face again. McNeil described the injuries from the arrest on TV station WJXT on Sunday.

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MCNEIL: A chipped tooth, a split lip. My tooth went through my lip after they slammed me on the ground, and it chipped on the concrete. And I had to get nine stitches – five on the outside, four on the inside. And then I also had a concussion and suffer from short-term memory loss now.

SCANLAN: But he never filed a complaint against any officers at the time, says Sheriff T.K. Waters. During a Monday night news conference, the sheriff released body camera footage of the incident. One video shows McNeil closing and locking his door when he’s told he’s being charged with resisting arrest.

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TK WATERS: Given that McNeil never brought this incident to JSO’s attention but rather pushed the cellphone camera footage that he had in his possession since March 5 out on social media, one can only assume – and I’m saying I assume – that he intended to inflame the public.

SCANLAN: Sheriff Waters says the internal investigation is still ongoing. One officer involved in the arrest has been stripped of law enforcement duties until it’s complete. He says the state attorney’s office has already found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the case. McNeil’s arrest video has garnered condemnation from the Jacksonville chapter of the NAACP and other local civil rights groups. McNeil has hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump but has not yet filed a complaint.

For NPR News, I’m Dan Scanlan in Jacksonville.

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