A video that captured the brutal arrest of a Black college student pulled from his car and beaten by officers in Florida has led to an investigation and calls for motorists to consider protecting themselves by placing a camera inside their vehicles.
William McNeil Jr. captured his February traffic stop on his cellphone camera, which was mounted above his dashboard. It offered a unique view, providing the only clear footage of the violence by officers, including punches to his head that can't clearly be seen in officer body camera footage released by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Click to Gallery
William McNeil Jr.'s attorney Ben Crump, center, speaks while showing a still from a police body cam video during a press conference Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
William McNeil Jr., left, along with his mother Latoya Solomon, center, and attorney Sue-Ann Robinson, right, look on during a press conference Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
William McNeil Jr. looks on during a press conference Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
William McNeil Jr., center, looks on during a news conference Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Since McNeil had the foresight to record the encounter from inside the vehicle, “we got to see firsthand and hear firsthand and put it all in context what driving while Black is in America,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, one of several lawyers advising McNeil.
“All the young people should be recording these interactions with law enforcement," Crump said. Because what it tells us, just like with George Floyd, if we don’t record the video, we can see what they put in the police report with George Floyd before they realized the video existed.”
McNeil was pulled over that day because officers said his headlights should have been on due to bad weather, his lawyers said. His camera shows him asking the officers what he did wrong. Seconds later, an officer smashes his window, strikes him as he sat in the driver’s seat and then pulls him from the car and punches him in the head. After being knocked to the ground, McNeil was punched six more times in his right thigh, a police report states.
The incident reports don't describe the officer punching McNeil in the head. The officer, who pulled McNeil over and then struck him, described the force this way in his report: “Physical force was applied to the suspect and he was taken to the ground.”
But after McNeil posted his video online last month and it went viral, the sheriff's office launched an internal investigation, which is ongoing. A sheriff’s office spokesperson declined to comment about the case this week, citing pending litigation, though no lawsuit has been filed over the arrest.
McNeil said the ordeal left him traumatized, with a brain injury, a broken tooth and several stiches in his lip. His attorneys accused the sheriff's office of trying to cover up what really happened.
“On Feb. 19, 2025, Americans saw what America is,” said another of McNeil’s lawyers, Harry Daniels. “We saw injustice. You saw abuse of police power. But most importantly we saw a young man that had a temperament to control himself in the face of brutality.”
The traffic stop, he said, was not only racially motivated but “it was unlawful, and everything that stemmed from that stop was unlawful."
McNeil is hardly the first Black motorist to record video during a traffic stop that turned violent — Philando Castile's girlfriend livestreamed the bloody aftermath of his death during a 2016 traffic stop near Minneapolis. But McNeil's arrest serves as a reminder of how cellphone video can show a different version of events than what is described in police reports, his lawyers said.
Christopher Mercado, who retired as a lieutenant from the New York Police Department, agreed with McNeil's legal team's suggestion that drivers should record their police interactions and that a camera mounted inside a driver's car could offer a unique point of view.
"Use technology to your advantage," said Mercado, an adjunct assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. “There’s nothing nefarious about it. It's actually a smart thing in my opinion.”
Rod Brunson, chairman of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland, said he thinks it's a good idea for citizens to film encounters with police — as long as doing so doesn't make the situation worse.
“I think that's a form of protection — it's safeguarding them against false claims of criminal behavior or interfering with officers, etc.,” Brunson said.
Although the sheriff's office declined to speak to The Associated Press this week, Sheriff T.K. Waters has spoken publicly about McNeil's arrest since video of the encounter went viral. He pushed back against some of the allegations made by McNeil's lawyers, noting that McNeil was told more than a half-dozen times to exit the vehicle.
At a news conference last month, Waters also highlighted images of a knife in McNeil's car. The officer who punched him claimed in his police report that McNeil reached toward the floor of the car, where deputies later found the knife.
Crump, though, said McNeil's video shows that he “never reaches for anything,” and a second officer wrote in his report that McNeil kept his hands up as the other officer smashed the car window.
A camera inside a motorist's vehicle could make up for some shortcomings of police bodycams, which can have a narrow field of view that becomes more limited the closer an officer gets to the person being filmed, Mercado said.
However, after the police murder of Floyd, some states and cities debated how and when citizens should be able to capture video of police. The Constitution guarantees the right to record police in public, but a point of contention in some states has been whether a civilian's recording might interfere with the ability of officers to do their job. In Louisiana, for example, a new law makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of a police officer in certain situations.
Waters acknowledged those limitations at a news conference last year, as he narrated video of a wild brawl between officers and a fan in the stands at EverBank Stadium during a football game last year between the universities of Georgia and Florida.
The sheriff showed the officers' bodycam videos during the start of the confrontation near the top of the stadium. But when the officers subdued the suspect and were pressing against him, the bodycam footage didn't capture much, so the sheriff switched to stadium security video shot from a longer distance away.
In McNeil's case, the bodycam video didn't clearly capture the punches thrown. If it had, the case would have been investigated right away, the sheriff said.
For the past 20 years, Brunson has been interviewing young Black men in several U.S. cities about their encounters with law enforcement. When he first began submitting research papers for academic review, many readers didn't believe the men's stories of being brutalized by officers.
“People who live in a civil society don't expect to be treated this way by the police. For them, their police interactions are mostly pleasant, mostly cordial," Brunson said.
“So it's hard for people who don’t have a tenuous relationship with the police to fathom that something like this happens,” he said. "And that’s where video does play a big part because people can't deny what they see.”
William McNeil Jr.'s attorney Ben Crump, center, speaks while showing a still from a police body cam video during a press conference Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
William McNeil Jr., left, along with his mother Latoya Solomon, center, and attorney Sue-Ann Robinson, right, look on during a press conference Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
William McNeil Jr. looks on during a press conference Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
William McNeil Jr., center, looks on during a news conference Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford talks about having an All-Pro season at age 37, credits his teammates and coach Sean McVay for his success and says his primary focus is on advancing in the playoffs.
Rob Maaddi, host: Welcome to On Football, I’m Rob Maaddi. We’re down to eight teams in the running for the Super Bowl. Only eight get a chance to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy. We will break down all of the NFL divisional-round games in Pro Picks coming up. Our guest this week, LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Matthew, last week, was named first team Associated Press All-Pro for the first time in his 17-year NFL career. He had a very cool reaction when I shared the news with him. So did Puka Nacua, Will Anderson, and a bunch of other guys. If you missed it, check out my social, AP social. All of those reactions, very cool. It’s always great to see guys react to wonderful news.
Matthew Stafford is the only one of the eight remaining starting quarterbacks in the playoffs who has actually won a Super Bowl, but no one has more pressure than Josh Allen. Last week in Jacksonville on the road, he willed the Bills to victory. He kept getting knocked down, took a physical beating and carried them to the finish line. Got the W and this week they’re on the road against Denver. We’ll break down that game, coming up. But for whatever reason, it seems that Josh Allen is held to a higher standard. A lot of analysts, especially former players, are so eager to see him fail, and they want to put all of Buffalo’s hopes squarely on Josh Allen. So if receivers drop the ball, running backs fumble, defense gives up 50 points, they’re ready and eager to blame Josh Allen for the loss. Football is the ultimate team sport and while the quarterback and someone of the magnitude of Josh Allen is gonna have a lot of input on how the game plays out, it’s still a team sport, and you gotta wait to see how it plays out before you dish out the blame for a loss that didn’t even occur. It just doesn’t make any sense.
Matthew Stafford had his best season at age 37. I spent a few minutes chatting with him last week about being a first team All-Pro, playing for coach Sean McVay and more. I’m down here in Tampa, so I got to see the tail end of Tom Brady, what he did at 43, 44, 45. What you did this year at 37 is right up there with the greatest seasons of all time. I appreciate that. What’s it take to be able to get that done, man?
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams quarterback: Great teammates, to be honest with you. A lot of hard work and dedication to try and keep myself upright and out there for those guys because that’s who I care about. But I’m lucky to play with a bunch of great players that, you know, help me along the way, make my job easy, and you know my job is just to get them the rock and as best I possibly can. So it’s been a whole lot of fun, a lot of people involved in keeping me healthy and going, but it’s, it’s been a great year. It’s been fun.
MAADDI: How much do you appreciate playing for a guy like Coach McVay?
STAFFORD: I love it. He’s close in age to me. We’ve got a lot of great shared experiences now throughout the years. And just my appreciation for him is huge. I just love playing for him. Love getting to spend time with him. Love the way he coaches our team, me in particular, He’s as steady of a human being as I’ve been around. And I appreciate that about him.
MAADDI: I know you’re all about team goals and you’re trying to win another Super Bowl, but do you set time aside at all? Do you, are you able to reflect about the personal things, the personal accomplishments? Is there any, like you want to check off, check this, I did this, I got that, you know, anything like that.
STAFFORD: Um, you know, I think I’m just so in the middle of it right now, you know, and, and there’s so much to do and so much to, uh, you know, to accomplish as a team. I really want to keep my focus on that. Obviously, I do understand and appreciate, um, you know, the importance of, uh this game and, and, uh you know what it’s meant throughout the years and the history of it, but at the same time, I just want to do everything I can to be the best teammate I can and help our guys continue, to continue this journey because it has been so fun. We’ve got such a great group. I want to make sure that I do everything in my power to make sure that we get to come back to work next week and do it again.
MAADDI: How special would an MVP be if that were to happen?
STAFFORD: It would mean a lot. I think it would be an unbelievable team award because especially the way I play the game as quarterback, I’m not running around holding the ball for forever. I’m getting it to guys that are making great plays and doing unbelievable things. So many guys to thank if that ever did happen. But it is... It’s a special one. It’s one that means a lot. I understand the history of this game and so many great players before me and to be mentioned in any kind of breath with those guys would mean a lot.
MAADDI: Well, Matthew. Here’s one you don’t have to wait on. We’re gonna announce on Saturday The Associated Press All-Pro rosters. You are the first-team quarterback.
STAFFORD: Oh, hell, that’s amazing. I appreciate that. I did not know that was coming. Man, played a lot of years. A lot of respect for this game. A lot respect for the other guys that do what I do. It’s not an easy thing to do. So, it means a lot. I really appreciate that, thank you.
MAADDI: Good luck down the road and hope to see you maybe in San Francisco.
STAFFORD: Hey, I appreciate it, Rob. Thanks, man.
MAADDI: Time for some Pro Picks, we were 5-1 straight up last week, 4-2 against the spread, my best bet one didn’t cover, upset special was money again. The 4-pack was a 2-pack last week because I just didn’t love the games. This week we’re back to a full four-pack, which is 53-20-1 overall, 45-28-1 against the number that start with the best bet and again I’m looking at the LA Rams, 13-5, at Chicago. The Bears are 12-6. The Rams are 3.5 point road favorites. Matthew Stafford had to rally LA after they blew a 14-0 lead against Carolina in a game that shouldn’t have been that close. Ended up winning 34-31. The Ram’s are going to need an effort out of their defense. Over the last five games, LA has averaged giving up 30 points. Meanwhile, the Bears are the comeback kids. They were down 21-3 at halftime against Green Bay. Caleb Williams led them to their seventh fourth-quarter comeback win this year. They just can’t continue to do that. You’ve got to play a full four quarter game or else at some point it’s going to catch up to you and I think that’s this week. I’m taking the Rams, 30-23. For my upset special, which they are 14-5 straight up, 15-4 against the spread this season, I’m looking at Houston at New England. Texans are 13-5, Patriots are 15-3, New England is a 3-point favorite, Houston has the No. 1 defense in the NFL, and they showed it against Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. Ended Mike Tomlin’s coaching career in Pittsburgh, dominated that game, scored two touchdowns on defense. They have an All-Pro edge rusher in Will Anderson Jr. Their cornerback Derek Stingley is an All-Pro. They just need CJ Stroud to protect the football this week and I think he will. The Patriots also, last week against the Chargers, they relied on defense, they won 16-3, they shut down Justin Herbert. Drake Maye led the team in rushing. He had a great season in his second year in the NFL. They’re gonna need him to be outstanding, elite against this defense, against Houston, the best in the NFL. I see the Texans sneaking in, 17-16. Next, the Saturday games. Buffalo, 13-5, at Denver, 14-3. Broncos are just a one-point favorite. Josh Allen, as I said earlier, he did everything last week. Now he’s gonna face the number two defense. He’s going to need more help from his teammates. Rushing champion James Cook had only 46 yards against Jacksonville. He’s got to get going this week. The Broncos, they’re also stacked on defense. They’ve got an All-Pro in the interior of the line, Zach Allen. Nik Bonitto on the edge is a monster. Patrick Surtain at cornerback was the defensive player of the year last year. They had 68 sacks, franchise record this season on offense. Bo Nix, they’ve also been comeback kids. He’s led seven fourth-quarter comebacks. He’s going to go against the NFL’s number one pass defense. But the Broncos are the number one seed. They were home, they were off last week. Meanwhile, the Bills played on Sunday. They got a little bit of a shorter rest. I like the Broncos, 24-22. Lastly, San Francisco, 13-5, at Seattle, 14-3. The Seahawks are 7.5-point favorites. It’s the third time these two teams meet. They played for the NFC’s number one seed in Week 18 in San Fran. Seattle won that 13-3. 49ers beat the Seahawks earlier in the season on the road. Last week, the Niners lost George Kittle and still found a way to beat the Eagles, eliminate the defending Super Bowl champions. Christian McCaffrey had two touchdowns, Brock Purdy made all the plays. They keep losing star players, whether it’s Nick Bosa and Fred Warner earlier in the season, and they continue to find ways to be resilient to win, to be in this position. Meanwhile, Seattle, number one seed, they were off last week, they’re at home. They’re gonna need Sam Darnold not to make mistakes. The Niners have to make Sam Darnold beat them They’ve got to try and to shut down that run and put it all on Sam Darnold. I do not like the fact that the 49ers played a Sunday game on the East Coast and now have to play on a Saturday. Terrible decision-making by the NFL schedule makers They could have put Seattle and San Fran on Sunday because the Bears and the Rams played on Saturday, so they get an extra day rest. And the 49ers get the shaft. I think all of those injuries, the travel, the time, everything catches up to them. I’m taking the Seahawks, 23-20. That’s it for this week. Thank you to Matthew Stafford.
Thank you for watching and listening to On Football and thank you to Haya Panjwani and Mike Hempen for producing this episode. Please check out APNews.com for all of the Pro Picks, On Football analysis and more NFL news.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford answers question after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Carolina Panthers, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Rusty Jones)
