William McNeil Jr.'s Jacksonville arrest reveals a video of officers stopping him for alleged missing headlights despite sunny weather, escalating to punching him twice and slamming him down after he refused commands. While high-profile attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels claim McNeil suffered a head injury and lost a tooth amidst explicit racial slurs in the transcript, the host speculates the incident is a staged lawsuit, expressing frustration that taxpayers will fund settlements for what he views as officer stupidity despite an ongoing internal investigation. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
|
Time
Text
Headlights, Windows, and Arrests00:13:23
When he pulled me over, he walked up, opened my door because my window don't work, right?
And then he, I said, I said, so what I did wrong?
Yeah, he said, well, for one, your headlights are off under this weather.
I'm like, okay, there's multiple people's headlights off, first of all.
And then there's no rain.
It doesn't matter.
You're still required to have headlights on.
Can you pull that low up?
All right.
Can you pull that low up?
Yeah, when you step out of the car, I will.
Can you call your supervisor?
Can you call your supervisor?
All right, go for it.
Exit the vehicle now.
Exit the vehicle.
Yeah, I got a new show for y'all.
Got a damn good show.
Before we get to this video, don't forget.
Before we get to today's video, don't forget about our new giveaway.
F-250 King Ranch and $10,000 in cash.
And it comes with a camper.
Get in the windows, go to my website, FitchHardsTwins.com.
Anything you buy on the site, like my coffee, beef tallow, any of my VIP, you get all kinds of deals and all kinds of interest for our giveaways.
Yeah.
All right, so this dude gets pulled over.
I guess it was raining.
He didn't have his headlights on.
And his window is not working.
So they're asking him to get out of the vehicle, right?
Yeah.
I would have just stepped out of my vehicle.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would have.
That's what I would have did.
Yeah.
But we cop pulled me over.
We Uncle Tom's though.
Uh-huh.
You know?
Yeah.
You're not going to win an argument with the cop right there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would have stepped out.
But they pulled him over because he didn't have his headlights off because it was raining.
Right now, I don't see it's raining.
It looks bright outside, but they said you still need to have your headlights on.
So that's the justification for the stop.
I don't see what's all this.
It's no fog or anything.
But I mean, but I don't see any justification for them breaking his window and punching him in the face.
Okay, he wouldn't get out of his vehicle.
Okay, break your window.
What's the punch for?
Because he's not throwing punches.
Yeah, unlock the door and open the door and tell him to step out.
Yeah.
So I don't.
I can understand the cop punching him in the face if he's after he broke his window.
He's doing this.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But that was a cheap shot.
That was a sucker.
All right.
Let's see.
Let's see what happens.
Vehicle.
Show me your hands.
Here.
What is your reason, sir?
They told you why they're doing this because your headlights wasn't on.
It seems a bit excessive to me.
Yeah.
Third of cops do what they say.
That cops don't tell everybody to get a car, but certain people they will tell to get out of the car, especially if you're being complicated.
Who's being complicated?
Him?
Cops.
It's like not having your head.
Why don't they just write a ticket?
Huh?
Yeah?
Yeah.
Just write a ticket.
Yeah, but his window doesn't work.
So I guess they're having a hard time communicating to him.
So the other officer went around and they said, well, they want you to step out of the car because your window doesn't work.
So, okay, okay.
What is your reason?
Step out now.
No!
Put some fights!
Put your hands behind your back.
Put your hands behind your back.
I'm resisting behind your back.
Was he resisting, though?
Or was he just a body reaction when you getting punched in the face?
He was putting his hands behind his back, though.
Why do you got to get on the ground to put your hands on?
I mean, when you're getting socked in the face, isn't it a natural reaction to do this?
Yeah, yeah.
And when you do like this, you're resistant.
There's the cops.
Yeah.
You just said it a nigga.
You just.
Step resistance.
You're resistant.
Step resistance.
Yeah, this is a well.
When you see him step out of the car, he put his hands behind his back.
But they wanted him to get on the ground and put his hand on.
Oh, so they flexing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You can say that.
What's wrong with you?
What about me?
I was putting my hands behind my back.
I was on the wall.
Ain't no talking now, man.
Ain't no talking, bro.
I'm fooling it, bro.
What's going on, man?
You're under arrest.
That's a stupid.
I don't know.
Yes, bro.
Yes.
The black guys.
It's just another damn job.
You want to call me bro like that, bro?
Yeah, I'm going to take it off now, man.
Yeah.
All right, the cops being condescending and calling him bro.
But he's calling him bro, but that's a cultural thing.
That's why black people say it's so irritating when I hear people they say bro every five seconds.
Yeah, yeah.
So the cops irritate.
It's irritating.
It's irritating.
Hey, bros, what you doing, bro?
Hey, stop it, bro.
Well, what's on?
This is bro.
I hate that.
Like my kids started set up and said, look, while you're in my house, stop saying that.
Yeah.
It's irritating.
Yeah.
And I'm just telling him a regular guy was taking this off.
When they asked him to step out of the vehicle, you should have done that.
You should have done that.
That's the black guy.
You can tell what a black guy's talking.
Yeah, should have just.
I think they were overzealous, but if you'd have stepped out of the car, it would have prevented all this.
Partner didn't even ask me, Parker.
Yes.
So why close your door if you see him pull up?
Because, man, what you mean?
He's talking about arresting me and stuff, bro.
I didn't do that.
It's called resisting, idiot.
I mean, did you hear that?
It's called resisting.
Did you hear what they said?
They said he shut his door.
Yeah, but what is he resisting?
Resistant arrest is a secondary charge.
You gotta have an arrestable offense.
Is the arrestable offense not having your headlights on?
No, of course not.
So you cannot arrest somebody for resistant arrest if you don't have arrestable offense.
Yes, a secondary charge.
So they pretty much, because he refused to get out of the car, he's not an arrested at that point.
He steps out of his car after he bashed his window.
And because he didn't put, because he didn't go to the ground and put his hands behind his back, they're saying that's resistant.
No, it's a secondary charge.
Yeah, but he's never, he's just being detained.
He's resisting detainment, I guess, but he's not a you can't resist detainment.
I mean, I guess you can, but I don't, I didn't get that from you.
Can you back me up to the car so come in up?
Shut up.
Can you buy the stop real quick?
Um, yeah, that, that, that, that term detain and arrest is totally two different terms.
Like when you're detained, there's a lot of is they're just investigating you.
Yeah, yeah.
But you are being held against your will.
Yeah, but it's not actually an arrest.
Yeah, but you can't detain.
They're looking for an arrestable offense.
Right, right, right.
Right.
All right, so this was covered by the local news, and they're going to detail exactly what happened.
A video appearing to show an aggressive arrest right here in Jacksonville.
It has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on social media today.
And we want to show you what we're talking about.
Ben Crump and Harry Daniels.
That's Ben Crump.
He's always, he's the ambulance chase and attorney for black people.
But anyway, I will say this about this black guy.
I don't think the cops had any right to treat him that way.
But this black guy is provoking.
He's looking to get paid.
And the cops fell right into it.
You didn't have to punch him in the face.
You didn't have to do any of that.
Didn't have to take him to the ground.
Yeah, but y'all fell right into this black dude's trap.
Yeah.
Because this is what they do.
They provoke you.
Right.
This is the video.
You know what?
Before we start the video, did they really have a did they have a right to stop him?
Well, he didn't have his headlights on.
They came over something.
It's daytime.
It's not raiding.
Yeah, but you see my point?
He's playing the game.
Right.
The cops are playing the game too, I think.
But maybe he's just standing up for his Fourth Amendment rights, too.
Maybe he's not playing the game, but he knows he's provoking them.
Yeah.
But the cops should have seen right through this.
Now you're going to get this dude money.
Oh, he's getting paid.
He's getting paid.
I mean, why?
Why do you, why you take the, now you forcing the taxpayers to pay for your stupidity on the job.
Why you do that to the taxpayers?
That's all I'm saying.
This man is 22-year-old William McNeil Jr.
He was caught on camera getting his window.
He know what he doing.
Yeah.
But man, did you think he anticipated getting punched?
Yeah.
He knew that wasn't.
That fast?
Yeah, he knew it was coming.
Broken by some Jacksonville Sheriff's officers while this was a traffic stop.
And then he's punched in the face at least twice during the course of this video.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office telling us that McNeil was pulled over for not having his headlights on while it was raining.
McDeal refusing to get out of the car when told to by police officers.
Now, within the last two hours, we're learning McNeil, the driver, hired two high-profile civil rights attorneys.
And that's where our Zach Wilcox comes in.
He's joining us in the studio tonight.
Zach, you spoke to one of the attorneys.
Yeah, Jess, I talked with Harry Daniels, one of the attorneys that he brought in, who said he feels the officers were out of control here, and he feels the only person who was in control in this situation was McNeil.
Now, Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters announced the agency is investigating the video to figure out the circumstances of what happened.
And with that context, let's take a look.
When he pulled me over, he walked up, opened my door, because my window don't work, right?
The video from this past February.
That's why they asked him to get out of the vehicle.
His window don't work.
He opened his door because his window don't work.
I guess they got into a little verbal altercation.
Did he shut his door?
Yeah.
Then it's when everything escalated.
Yeah.
He should have just got out.
It begins with William McNeil Jr. explaining to a Jacksonville sheriff's officer, who you can't see on camera, that an officer pulled him over for not having his headlights on.
There's no rain.
It doesn't matter.
I asked First Coast News crime and safety analyst Ken Jefferson about the headlights law.
What was the probable cause for the stop?
The statute for pulling someone over for driving without your headlights is if it's foggy, if it's smoky, or if it's rainy, or if there's any kind of precipitation.
Based on the video that I watched, it looked as though the sun was out.
McNeil then asks to see the law, and the officer says he'll show it to him when he agrees to step out of the car.
If an officer asks you to get out of your car or the traffic stop, just comply.
You see that cop car go by?
Did it have its lights on?
Let me see.
Let me see.
McNeil then asks to see the law and the officer says he'll show it to him when he agrees to step out of the car.
Yeah, he's got his lights on.
He's got his sirens on, buddy's headlights.
It's his headlights on.
You couldn't really see it.
Right, right.
An officer asks you to get out of your car or the traffic stop.
Just comply.
Exactly.
You're not going to win an argument on the street with an officer, so don't go back and forth with him.
Can you call your supervisor?
All right, go for it.
Exit the vehicle now.
Exit the vehicle.
Show me your hands.
Here.
Come here.
What is your reason, sir?
Step out.
What is your reason?
Step out now.
Why did you use that type of force when a person is not being combated, physically combative, or actually resisting you physically?
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters issued a statement saying in part, quote, we have launched an internal investigation into it and the circumstances surrounding this incident.
We hold our officers to the highest standards and are committed to thoroughly determining exactly what occurred.
Exit the vehicle now.
The driver's attorney, Harry Daniels, says it took months for his client to recover.
His tooth went through his lip at some point and he had to get stitches, been slammed on the ground.
He suffered close head injury.
I asked Daniels what the ideal outcome would be now that his law firm is involved in the case.
The officer that punched the DJ and he's punching them.
His hands are behind his back, and he's still punching.
That's a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
Yeah, he should be held to the same rule of law that everybody else is held to.
So, arrest and prosecution.
That's that's a perfect world.
A spokesperson with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office told me he wasn't aware of any official complaints filed with the department for this incident.
Daniel says they'll likely host a press conference this week, which we'll make sure to share with you.
Zach Wilcox, first cuss news on your side.
Yeah, I mean, he shouldn't have been for this incident.
Daniel says the likely.
I don't think the police officers had any right of treating him like that.
No, that's gonna, he's gonna get millions of dollars.
Dude, that was nuts.
Yeah, that was me.
I just stepped out of the car, but he didn't feel it was right.
He went back and forth with the cops, and yeah, that's uh that's crazy.
Yeah, he lost a tooth, it went through his lip.
He said, Well, you know, black people, we got big lips, so whenever I get in a fight, my big lip gets in the way, it's always puffed up and bleeding, and everything.
Yeah, that's all you could have avoided that you could have got out the car, but that does not justify those cops doing what they did.
That is nuts.
Yeah, he wasn't physical, he wasn't combative or anything.
They were combative, yeah.
He was pushing up buttons.
Stepping on a Cop's Ego00:00:30
See, he was flexing on them.
And then when you do that, you step on a cop's ego, they're gonna flex back.
Right.
A lot of times, when cops lose control of their anger, they end up doing this now.
Now he's gonna get paid.
Yeah, he's getting paid.
You see, um, pro what's this?
He came off as um a gay lefty, yeah, exactly what it is.