‘I was really just scared’: Man punched in viral Jacksonville traffic stop speaks publicly for 1st time

(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — William McNeil, Jr., the 22-year-old Florida man whose violent arrest by Jacksonville sheriff’s deputies was caught in a viral video, addressed the incident publicly for the first time during a press conference on Wednesday morning.

McNeil began his brief remarks by thanking those who supported him, then turned to the Feb. 19 incident.

“I was getting pulled over, and I needed to step out the car, and I know I didn’t do nothing wrong. I was really just scared,” he said.

He was also asked by a reporter what he was taught about dealing with law enforcement.

“Basically, what I was taught is to, instead of fighting them on the street where we don’t have power, fight them in the courts,” McNeil said in response.

McNeil’s mother, Latoya Solomon, said during the press conference that watching the video was emotionally difficult for her and it took her months to watch it in its entirety.

“I’m thankful to God for protecting him, because I know what the outcome could have been,” Solomon said

His stepfather, Alton Solomon, was visibly emotional while reflecting on the incident.

“To see that video made me go back to the moment when I was 22. It hurt,” he said.

McNeil is student at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, where he is also the leader of the marching band.

Speaking during the press conference, one of McNeil’s attorneys, Ben Crump, called for the firing of the deputy who punched McNeil during the incident.

“If you don’t terminate this officer and you condone this type of police excessive force, then it sends a message to all of the other police officers on the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office team. It tells them, it is OK for you to treat citizens like this, it is okay to treat Black motorists like this,” Crump said. “In America, it is not OK.”

On Monday, attorney Harry Daniels told ABC News that his client plans to take legal action.

“We are planning to do everything we can do to secure justice,” Daniels said when asked if the legal team plans to file a lawsuit. “We are seeking all options to ensure accountability.”

The sheriff’s office said on Sunday that the agency launched an investigation into the incident after the 2-minute cell phone video captured by McNeil went viral. On Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters also released body camera footage from two deputies who were present on the scene of the arrest.

In the video, sheriff’s deputies are seen beating and punching McNeil during the traffic stop after he repeatedly questioned why he was being pulled over and refused to exit his vehicle. The deputy who broke McNeil’s window and punched him was identified by Waters as D. Bowers.

“Pending the outcome of this administrative review, Officer Bowers has been stripped of his law enforcement authority,” Waters said. It is unclear if other deputies involved in the arrest have been placed on administrative leave.

Waters also announced on Monday that “the State Attorney’s Office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law,” but highlighted that the deputies’ actions are now being examined in an “administrative review,” which will determine if the deputies “violated [Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office] policy.”

ABC News has reached out to the Office of the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit serving Clay, Duval, & Nassau Counties for further comment.

It is unclear if Bowers has retained an attorney. ABC News has reached out to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for further comment, but have not heard back.

“I will neither defend nor commend officer Bowers’ response to resistance until all the facts are known and the investigation is completed,” Waters said.