What happened to William McNeil is disgusting.

An unarmed Black man. Repeatedly punched in the face by Jacksonville police officers during a traffic stop in February. It was all caught on video. It went viral. The public is outraged. But now, in July, the Sheriff’s Office says “no policy or criminal law was violated.”

What kind of system justifies this?

This could’ve been my kid. Your kid. The children of those officers. The Sheriff of Jacksonville is Black. One of the assisting officers was Black. And still, no one stopped it. No one said a word. No one stepped in.

At the press conference, the Sheriff said:

“All force is ugly.”
👉🏽 Exactly. So why use it when it’s clearly not needed?

“There have been 38,805 traffic stops.”
👉🏽 If this is how you handle one, we need to audit all of them.

“No laws were broken.”
👉🏽 Maybe not on paper. But morally? Absolutely.

They beat this young man twice in the face while he was restrained. What happened off-camera? What happened after the punches? What happens next time?

This was an opportunity for good officers to do the right thing. Instead, it became yet another example of police brutality and cowardice in uniform—by both white and Black officers.

We need to say their names. Show their faces. ALL of them.

And we need to stop accepting silence as neutrality. It's complicity.

#JusticeForWilliamMcNeil #PoliceBrutality #JSO #BlackLivesMatter #AccountabilityNow

https://x.com/rolandsmartin/status/1947415172836167689

WHAT?! You’re seriously trying to talk the public out of what we all saw with our own eyes?

Are you kidding me?
This young Black man was sucker punched in the face — while not resisting. The video is crystal clear.
There was no threat. No justification. No de-escalation. Just violence.

And the Sheriff? Acting like this isn’t a big deal?
Like it’s not even questionable?

Let’s be honest:
If that were his own son getting beat like that, he wouldn't be on TV trying to explain it away.

This is leadership failure.
Instead of turning this moment into an opportunity — to rebuild trust and set a new standard — he doubled down on old-school policing, silence, and cover-up.

This was a moment to do better. To show the public that the department could be trusted.
Instead, it’s just added more tension. More fear. More anger. And more proof that “protect and serve” doesn’t apply equally.

If you can’t question your own officers when they cross the line — you’re part of the problem. Period.

We’re watching. And we’re not letting this go.

#JusticeForWilliamMcNeil #Jacksonville #PoliceBrutality #AccountabilityNow #BlackLivesMatter #CommunityJustice #JSO #LeadershipMatters