Florida man speaks out after violent traffic stop caught on camera

A Florida man at the center of a viral traffic stop is speaking publicly for the first time since the February incident, which has drawn national attention and renewed calls for police accountability.

(NBC)- A Florida man at the center of a viral traffic stop is speaking publicly for the first time since the February incident, which has drawn national attention and renewed calls for police accountability.

Video posted by 22-year-old William McNeil Jr. shows the moment a traffic stop in Jacksonville escalated. In the clip, McNeil repeatedly asks, “Can you call your supervisor?” before an officer breaks his car window and punches him in the face.

“I just really wanted to know why I was getting pulled over,” McNeil said. “I know I didn’t do nothing wrong. I was really just scared.”

According to the arrest report, officers stopped McNeil because his headlights were off during a rainstorm. Body camera footage released by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office shows McNeil receiving several warnings before officers forced entry into his vehicle.

One officer can be heard saying, “Open the door and exit or we are going to break the window,” moments before shattering the glass and striking McNeil.

McNeil later pleaded guilty to resisting an officer and driving with a suspended license. His booking photo shows a visibly bloodied lower lip.

He is now represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is demanding accountability from the Jacksonville Police Department. “You need to terminate that officer immediately. Immediately,” Crump said. He compared McNeil’s actions to “a 21st-century Rosa Parks moment.”

Officer Donald Bowers, who struck McNeil, has a history of complaints. Police records show five prior complaints against Bowers—three of which were substantiated, resulting in counseling or a formal reprimand. In his report, Bowers claimed McNeil was “reaching for the floorboard of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting.” McNeil refuted that claim during an interview. “I never reached for the knife,” he said. “Why would I reach for the knife when I was held at gunpoint?”

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters confirmed that Officer Bowers has been stripped of his law enforcement authority pending an internal investigation.

The incident has sparked outrage from activists and renewed scrutiny of use-of-force tactics by law enforcement officers.