JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The arrest of William McNeil Jr. was the main topic at a town hall meeting on Jacksonville’s Westside Tuesday night.

The meeting was already scheduled as a part of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s town hall series, which allows people in the community to speak directly with police.

People who spoke with First Coast News before the town hall told us they watched Monday’s press conference of Sheriff T.K. Waters touching on the incident, but needed to receive more clarity from the sheriff.

Sheryl Verner attended Tuesday night’s JSO town hall at First Coast Christian School to hear more from Waters on the Feb. 19 traffic stop involving 22-year-old William McNeil Jr.

“I just wanna give him another shot at trying to answer some of the questions,” said Verner. “When I saw the video, I was horrified. My first thought was, ‘That guy is lucky to still be alive.'”

With the newly released bodycam footage and McNeil’s viral video, Waters told First Coast News he was expecting citizens at Tuesday night’s town hall to have questions about the incident.

“We’re not running away from any of this stuff, this is about informing the public and letting people know what we’re doing in the agency,” said Waters. “Reasonable people, logical people that see an entire incident from beginning to end with context will understand a lot more took place there.”

Waters received questions about race and officers working closer with the Black community.

“Do you believe racism is real?” Jacksonville Chief Public Affairs Officer read a question card.

“Uh, yeah. Do I believe the entire world is racist? No,” said Waters. “Yes, I absolutely believe it, but do I believe that in the United States, in 2025, there’s a system in place held by the man to stop people from succeeding? No. Because if that was the case, I would not be standing before you right now.”

“I do believe that we need to work as hard as we can to continue to reach out and touch our communities, and that’s what we’re doing,” said Waters.

Some attendees like longtime resident Bill Kilma, attended to show support for JSO.

“I’m proud of the Jacksonville police department [Sheriff’s Office] and what they do to support and protect our community, and that’s why I’m here,” said Kilma.

Still, many in the room want more than answers, they want change.

“I’d like to see how he plans on making some of the issues that we have better,” said Verner.