Attorney for man who was punched by JSO officer calls lack of contact between client and state prosecutors a ‘problem’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After calling his client’s experience a “21st century Rosa Parks moment,” civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is calling the lack of contact between Florida’s state prosecutors and his client, Will McNeil Jr., a “problem.”

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According to Crump, the State Attorney’s Office “has not had any contact” with McNeil following the early Sunday morning release of a viral video that shows his car window being broken by a police officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office before he is hit in the face and dragged out of his car.

However, in a news conference hosted by JSO Sheriff T.K. Waters on Monday, he informed the public that after reviewing the incident, the SAO found that no officers violated criminal law.

“That’s a problem because they saw the video too,” Crump said. “I’m sure there’s a protocol [that] anytime you have a use-of-force engagement that somebody should review the body-cam video. That’s why taxpayers pay for body-cam videos, so we can make sure that police are following policies and the law.”

Crump continued to explain that McNeil asking police officers why they were stopping him is “not being anti-police” before noting that he and civil rights attorney Harry Daniels will be exploring every legal possibility that could bring justice to their client.

“This young man had never been convicted of any crime, never arrested before that day, and was a college student doing all the right things,“ Crump noted. ”We believe that he has a right to have his civil rights protected, so we are exploring bringing a civil rights lawsuit against the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to make sure that not only do they know they can’t do this to William McNeil Jr., but they can’t do this to other citizens in Jacksonville, Florida."

MORE | Jacksonville’s NAACP calls for ‘immediate answers’ from Sheriff Waters after viral video of violent JSO traffic stop

When asked if he’ll seek to get the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to step in for investigative purposes, Crump said he believes the case requires an independent agency to review the matter.

“We’re really saying that there’s not much to investigate here,” he noted. “You got video. [The case] doesn’t need to be a long, drawn-out investigation. You know that this wasn’t justified when you look at the video the first time.”

News4JAX’s full one-on-one interview with Crump can be seen in the video player above