William McNeil Jr held at gunpoint by Florida police officer

William McNeil Jr.’s unnecessarily violent arrest at the hands of Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) deputies is still circulating on social media via viral video, and BOSSIP still has its eyes fixed on all the machinations of the case.

Ubiquitous civil rights attorney Ben Crump held a public press conference this week to reveal more details about the egregious police misconduct that took place on February 19, 2025, specifically, by deputy Donald Bowers. According to AP News, Crump presented a still image from the scene taken from the body camera video of one of the deputies. The still clearly shows a deputy aiming his service pistol at McNeil even though the 22-year-old was unarmed and presented no threat whatsoever. Crump, attorney Harry Daniels, and his team of lawyers cited this as one example of several discrepancies in the official police report.

“Read the police report. Watch the video. And see if they are telling the truth,” Crump said. “They don’t add up.”

Crump says that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is still withholding more body camera footage that would further illuminate the level of misconduct exhibited that day. JSO was asked about this and other tenets of the case, but a spokesperson shut it down, saying, “due to pending litigation, we would be unable to speak further on the incident.”

McNeil, who stood next to his mother at the press conference, maintains his innocence. He told reporters, “That day I was telling the truth. I was being held at gunpoint, and I didn’t feel safe.”

Daniels and company say they are preparing to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against all parties involved, and they also plan to challenge McNeil’s conviction on the criminal charges that stemmed from the incident.

Via First Coast News:

“[We’re] pursuing justice to secure his freedom, because no way he should have been charged with a crime, because let me be very clear – the stop was unconstitutional from the beginning,” Daniels said. “It wasn’t just pretexual, it was racial profiling and unlawful and he suffered a beating that nobody should suffer.”

BOSSIP will continue covering this story and will provide updates as more information becomes available.