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.

The footage shows that William McNeil Jr., 22, was sitting in the driver’s seat, asking to speak to the Jacksonville deputies’ supervisor, when authorities broke his window, punched him in the face, pulled him from the vehicle, punched him again and threw him to the ground.

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[–] 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)

"During a lawful traffic stop"

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    You don't get to make that determination during the stop, that's for the court to decide after the fact.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    That is true, but if the court decides it was unlawful, then the failure to identify charge will also be dropped.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    In which (unlikely) case, all that happened to him was damage to his vehicle, some minor injuries, an arrest, tow fees, having to show up in court, maybe some bond, and cost of a lawyer unless he wants to roll the dice with a public defender. And, in return, he gets nothing. But he didn't get any fines or probation or maybe jail, or a criminal record (although he does have the arrest on his record). Victory!

    (This one's a little more complicated because they actually did use excessive force, so there's a slim chance that he might be able to sue them civilly and win. In which case it might be completely worth it. But, I would say in about 99% of these cases where someone disagrees with the reason for the stop and so decides to refuse to ID, the only additional results that happen to them are all heavily on the bad side.)

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