Livingstone College president stands with student punched by officer in viral video
The president of Livingstone College is standing behind a student who was seen in a viral video being punched by a police officer in Jacksonville, Florida, earlier this year.
Dr. Anthony Davis says he was shocked when he found out it was William McNeil in the video.
“This young man checks all the boxes,” Davis said.
McNeil is a biology major at the Salisbury school. He also volunteers in the marching band and helps students on campus with various projects.
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A new video shared this week is going viral after it showed a deputy smashing McNeil’s car window during a traffic stop. Deputies say they stopped him for not having his headlights on, and told him to get out of the car.
“There’s no rain,” McNeil told the officer.
“It doesn’t matter, you’re still required to have your headlights on,” the officer responds.
You hear McNeil ask to speak to a supervisor, then things escalate. He was pulled out of out car, punched by officers, and placed under arrest.
“I can tell you the one thing that he did right. He showed restraint. He was asking for a supervisor, and next thing you know, he’s being punched in the face,” Davis said.
Davis joined McNeil and his new high-profile civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, in a news conference on Wednesday to talk about how they believe his civil rights were violated.
“I know I didn’t do nothing wrong. I was really just scared,” McNeil said.
The Jacksonville sheriff’s office released body camera video claiming McNeil’s cell phone video doesn’t tell the whole story.
Despite deputies being cleared of criminal wrongdoing, the sheriff says his department has an internal investigation into their actions.
Davis says the college stands by McNeil and hopes he gets justice.
“This happened in February, and you can still see the injuries today, the cognitive decline, I can see it. He’s not the same Will,” Davis said.
When we asked Davis about McNeil’s future at Livingstone, he said McNeil talked about returning to the school to play a new instrument in the marching band.
As a result of the February arrest, McNeil was charged with several offenses, including marijuana possession, resisting without violence, and driving with a suspended license.
He pleaded guilty to the resisting and suspended license charges, but the other charges were dropped.
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