Personnel records for the lone Jacksonville sheriff’s officer currently stripped of his law enforcement authority in the traffic stop viral video arrest do not show any indication of violent tendencies.
The State Attorney’s Office has already determined none of the officers involved violated criminal law, but Sheriff T.K. Waters said the case is still under an internal administrative review.
Officer Donald Bowers was singled out as the arresting officer who pulled over 22-year-old William Anthony McNeil Jr. for not having his headlights on in “inclement weather” on Feb. 19. Months after his arrest and, McNeil posted a video from inside his vehicle during the arrest. Bowers is seen smashing his window and punching him in the face after refusing to comply and exit his vehicle.
McNeil kept asking why he was being pulled over when it wasn’t raining and telling Bowers to call his supervisor. Bowers is heard on the newly released body-camera video loudly telling him “Open the door and exit, you are under arrest for resisting” several times. Other officers also were aggressive in trying to handcuff McNeil, who suffered a chipped tooth and minor cut on his bottom lip according to the response-to-resistance report, now has high-profile civil rights attorneys after his video went viral.
Sheriff T.K. Waters noted during a July 21 news conference that McNeil didn’t file a complaint at the time and instead pleaded guilty the next day to resisting an officer without violence and financial responsibility driving while license is suspended.
Charges of possession of not more than 20 grams of marijuana and use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia were dropped and citations for not having headlights on during rain, fog or smoke and not wearing a seat belt were dismissed, according to court records. He was sentenced to two days of time served in jail.
How many complaints have been filed against the officer involved in the traffic stop viral video?
Bowers’ “Employee Administrative Investigation History” shows five complaints since 2011. Here’s a brief summary.
Aug. 3, 2011: In-house complaint, unbecoming conduct and secondary employment violation, sustained, received a written reprimand.
Feb. 8, 2012: Inmate complaint, unbecoming conduct, not sustained.
May 11, 2016: Citizen complaint, driving issue, sustained, received informal counseling.
Oct. 4, 2018: Citizen complaint, unbecoming conduct and failure to take appropriate action, exonerated.
March 14, 2023: Citizen complaint, failure to conform to work standards, sustained, received formal counseling. This summary was available and was about some paperwork in a possible fraudulent check case not being placed into evidence.
What did Jacksonville’ sheriff say about the officer in the viral video?
The sheriff pointed out during his July 21 briefing that since Jan. 1, 2025, Jacksonville sheriff’s officers have been involved in 38,805 traffic stops.
“The overwhelming majority of these tens of thousands of traffic stops were made without incident,” Waters said.
But within 21 seconds of McNeil being stopped, he refused to provide his driver’s license and registration, the sheriff said. Fourteen seconds later, he shut and locked his door and refused to come out. Bowers also warned him seven times to step out of the vehicle or they were going to break the window.
“Right now you’re under arrest for resisting. You understand? The longer you take us on, the worse it’s going to be,” Bowers is heard telling the driver on his bodycam.
Waters said it’s all about complying with police in those situations.
“I want to be clear about something, yes there absolutely was force used by the arresting officers, and yes that force is ugly,” he said. “But as I have said many times before the reality is that all force, all violence, is ugly, and just because force is ugly does not mean it’s unlawful or contrary to policy.”
He said with the administrative process still early in the case, he will neither defend nor commend Bowers’ response to resistance until the investigation is completed.
“However, as the leader of this agency, I will not remain silent while important facts and information are buried to advance an anti-police agenda,” Waters said. “The truth is William McNeil Jr. was non-compliant with JSO officers within 21 seconds after he was stopped for multiple civil infractions. His non-compliance quickly rose to the level of criminal resistance to a police officer.”
As far as the first punch thrown by Bowers after breaking the window and McNeil not appearing in his video to be fighting him or expecting it, Waters took exception to a reporter’s opinion that it looked like a sucker punch.
“First of all, let me stop you, it’s not a sucker punch. I’m not excusing that administratively … There are things that we definitely need to look at. But the context of this video should tell you everything you need to know.”
Another reporter also asked about the discrepancy in the report that McNeil was reaching for a knife, but the Instagram video does not appear to show him doing that.
The sheriff first asked what report he was talking about and wasn’t aware of that particular reference in the arrest report.
“Actually I don’t see where his hands are,” Waters said of the video. “… No one can assume. I operate and we operate off facts and facts alone. I can’t make assumptions. All I can go by when I read those things is what’s stated in the report, I’m not saying whether it’s true or whether it’s not, I’m saying no one sees his hands at that point.”
What does the man in the viral traffic stop video and his attorney’s say?
Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels have advised the media that they will join McNeil in speaking out at a news conference at 10 a.m. July 23.
“What happened to William McNeil Jr. is a disturbing reminder that even the most basic rights — like asking why you’ve been pulled over — can be met with violence for Black Americans,” the attorneys previously said. “William was calm and compliant. Yet instead of answers, he got his window smashed and was punched in the face, all over a questionable claim about headlights in broad daylight. This wasn’t law enforcement, it was brutality.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Here’s what we know about the history of the main officer in traffic stop viral video
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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