Jacksonville Sheriff’s Deputy Bowers will not face criminal charges despite video evidence showing him violently beating 22-year-old William McNeil Jr., a Black motorist, during a February 19th traffic stop. The decision was announced by the State Attorney’s Office on August 13—though Jacksonville Sheriff Waters stated more than three weeks prior that “the State Attorney’s Office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law,” further exposing the farcical nature of the investigation.
McNeil’s attorneys have called on the U.S. Department of Justice for an independent investigation.
According to the initial police report, McNeil was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy on February 19 for not having his headlights on and not wearing a seat belt. In response to McNeil remaining in his car while questioning the motivations for the stop—it was daytime and other cars did not have their headlights on either—cellphone and body-worn camera footage show officers breaking McNeil’s window and punching him in the face, and then dragging him out of the car and beating him further. The police broke McNeil’s tooth and concussed him, with McNeil requiring multiple stitches.
While Officer Bowers claimed that McNeil was reaching for a knife at his feet to justify his brutality, none of the released recordings show such an action.
Officers also claimed that McNeil was leaving a house being surveilled for drug activity shortly before they stopped him, and that he had drugs and drug paraphernalia on him when he was arrested. However, the drug charges initially made against him, as well as the citations for not wearing a seat belt and driving without headlights in inclement weather, were dropped, further calling into question the claims of the police.
The State Attorney’s Office justified the police beating by saying that the officer broke McNeil’s window and hit him in the face for a “legitimate tactical purpose”, despite McNeil sitting calmly in his car. The state attorney also argued that Officer Bowers later punching McNeil in the face was in response to McNeil’s “physical resistance to the arrest.” However, the video shows McNeil being pulled out of his car and immediately punched in the face, thrown to the ground, and his head repeatedly slammed into the asphalt. The investigation does not mention the officers slamming McNeil on the asphalt and further assaulting him, nor the extent of the injuries McNeil suffered at the hands of the police.
McNeil’s cellphone footage surfaced on social media last month, prompting calls for justice and a review of the incident. In response, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office launched an internal investigation and released the body-worn camera footage from other officers present in order to save face. When questioned about the traffic stop during a press conference, Sheriff Waters became defensive, stating that he is “not going to be bullied into doing anything because someone wants me to.”
The legal system failed to bring Officer Bowers to justice, instead providing a facade for a decision that was already made before the phony investigation was carried out. While the internal investigation continues, Officer Bowers remains on administrative leave, paid for by the city’s taxes.
Image: William McNeil Jr. and Officer Bowers during the traffic stop on February 19, 2025. Source: Screenshot from video by McNeil.
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