Will William McNeil Jr. lastly obtain justice? New requires a Division of Justice investigation have renewed hope that he would possibly.
Supply: @904Will / Instagram
Final month, the state legal professional’s workplace in Florida stated it might take “no additional motion” towards the deputy with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Workplace who repeatedly punched the Black school scholar after breaking his automotive window and dragging him from his automobile, which was captured in a viral video. On Sunday, famed civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Ben Crump, who symbolize McNeil, despatched a request to the U.S. Division of Justice to open an investigation into the incident to find out whether or not the 22-year-old’s rights had been violated.
In line with the Tampa Free Press, Crump and Daniels despatched the request they authored to the Assistant Lawyer Common of the Civil Rights Division, asking the DOJ to find out if McNeil’s civil rights had been violated below 18 U.S. Code § 242.
In a press launch, Crump’s workplace claimed “McNeil sustained a number of accidents from the assault together with lacerations to the chin and lip, a fractured tooth and a clinically recognized traumatic mind damage after JSO Officers struck him a number of instances within the face and physique and forcefully slammed his head to the pavement whereas he was unarmed and posed no menace,” describing the cease carried out by JSO Officer Donald Bowers that occurred on Feb. 19.
“Along with outlining the brutal assault which sparked nationwide outcry garnering tens of tens of millions of views throughout social and conventional media, the request took challenge with the State Lawyer’s Workplace who ‘expended appreciable effort of their report back to rationalize Officer Bower’s actions,’” the press launch continued. “Particularly, the attorneys criticized the State Lawyer’s report not just for overlooking the truth that Officer Bowers did not report his preliminary strike to McNeil’s face and claimed he solely punched McNeil outdoors the automotive as a result of the 22-year-old was making an attempt to flee officers, a declare contradicted by the video, but additionally identified that the State Lawyer’s Workplace deserted a elementary prosecutorial technique by making the acutely aware resolution to not interview McNeil.”
Yeah, making a declare that McNeil tried to flee from officers when he didn’t even go away the confines of his automotive till his window was damaged and he was dragged out is wild. There’s actually by no means a cause to take a cop’s phrase at face worth.
In February, officers claimed McNeil was stopped for driving and not using a seatbelt and with out his headlights on. It’s price noting that Florida regulation states clearly that motorists should use their headlights “from sundown to dawn, together with twilight hours,” or “throughout any rain, smoke, or fog.” Footage of the cease exhibits it was daytime when McNeil was stopped, and there are not any apparent indicators of “inclement climate.” As for the declare about his seatbelt, Crump and Daniels famous of their DOJ request that the video exhibits his seatbelt was mounted, together with the truth that it was not raining.
(They might even have famous that JSO officers claimed of their report that earlier than they busted McNeil’s window, he reached in direction of his floorboard, the place they later discovered an unsheathed knife. No video footage exhibits McNeil reaching for something at any level.)
“It’s not simply how violent and brutal these officers had been. It’s that they had been completely unapologetic as a result of they knew nobody was going to carry them accountable,” Daniels stated in a press release. “It’s clear that the State Lawyer’s Workplace refuses to do something about it. So we’re calling on the Division of Justice.”
“The State Lawyer’s Workplace failing to carry these officers accountable for his or her actions and clear disregard for the rule of regulation is as appalling because the beating itself,” Crump stated.
Sadly, chances are high slim that any new investigation into McNeil’s case will likely be introduced by the present DOJ, which has already made it abundantly clear that any civil rights instances it takes up should align with the white nationalist agenda of President Donald Trump. That is, in spite of everything, the identical MAGA-fied DOJ that just lately ended Biden-era police-accountability agreements with Minneapolis and Louisville that got here on account of intensive investigations following the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
We will see how (or if) the DOJ responds to Crump and Daniels’ request. We shouldn’t maintain our collective breath, although.
