JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man in a now-viral video of a February traffic stop, showing Jacksonville police officers smash a car window and punch him in the head, hired nationally recognized civil rights attorneys to represent him.

The man, identified by attorneys as 22-year-old William McNeil Jr., was seen in a video posted to social media Sunday of a traffic stop that occurred Feb. 19, 2025. 

Sunday night, civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels announced McNeil retained them to represent him.

READ MORE: Viral video shows JSO officer break car window, punch driver in the head during February traffic stop

In the video, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office say they pulled McNeil over because the vehicle’s headlights were not on. McNeil questioned the traffic stop because it wasn’t raining and it was still light outside.

An officer, who cannot be seen in the video, is heard saying, “It doesn’t matter, you’re still required to have headlights on.”

An officer asks McNeil to step out of the car, and when McNeil asks for the officer’s supervisor, another officer punches the driver’s window until it shatters. The officer then punches McNeil in the head before unlocking the vehicle door, unbuckling his seatbelt and forcibly removing him from the driver’s seat.

Once out of the vehicle, multiple officers then gather around McNeil. One officer is seen grabbing McNeil’s head and punching him in the chin before forcing him to the ground.

The video, posted early Sunday, has garnered hundreds of thousands of views online. 

“I am absolutely disgusted by the actions of these officers but, unfortunately, I’m not surprised,” said Daniels. “The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has a long history of this kind of needless violence and brutality.”

“It should be obvious to anyone watching this video that William McNeil wasn’t a threat to anyone,” Crump added. “He was calmly exercising his constitutional rights and they beat him for it.”

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters issued a statement Sunday afternoon addressing the video, saying, “We are aware of a video circulating on social media showing a traffic stop represented to be from February 19, 2025. We have launched an internal investigation into it and the circumstances surrounding this incident. We hold our officers to the highest standards and are committed to thoroughly determining exactly what occurred.”

We asked First Coast News Crime and Safety Expert Ken Jefferson about the headlights law in Florida.

“What was the probable cause for the stop? The statute for pulling someone over for driving without your headlights is if it’s foggy, smoky or rainy. Based on the video I watched, it looked like the sun was out,” he said.

Daniels said it took months for his client to recover.

“His tooth went through his lip at some point. He had to get stitches. From getting slammed on the ground, he suffered a closed-head injury,” Daniels said.

He said the ideal outcome would be that the officers involved are held accountable.

“That officer that punched and beat him and the ones who watched and did nothing should be held to the same rule of law that everyone else is held to. Arrest and prosecution. That’s a perfect world,” Daniels said.

A JSO spokesperson told First Coast News the agency is unaware of any filed complaint matching the video description.

Additionally, Florida Rep. Angie Nixon posted on social media about the video Sunday, saying she reached out to the sheriff’s office to meet about the incident.