JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — During a press conference in Chicago Tuesday, William McNeil Jr.’s attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels held up an image of what they’re saying is a new angle showing a Jacksonville sheriff’s officer pointing a gun at McNeil during a February traffic stop.

“It is clear that William McNeil was not lying when he said the police were holding him at gunpoint,” Crump said.

McNeil’s attorneys said they plan on filing a lawsuit and challenging his conviction, while also calling for criminal charges against the arresting officer involved and possibly the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Before a scheduled JSO town hall Tuesday night, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said this video angle is not new and is from bodyworn camera footage JSO already released July 21.

“We’ve been open, we’ve been honest. I don’t care how many people disagree with me; they know we’ve been open and honest. We’ve been very transparent. There’s no new video, that video we provided that we put on our transparency site that they’re utilizing that’s all I got to say about it,” Waters said.

The sheriff did not confirm if the officer in the picture had his gun drawn, but says officers do have the right to draw weapons if they feel threatened.

“Why would you not draw a gun when someone is refusing to do what you ask them to do on a traffic stop, a lawful traffic stop,” Waters said. “They’re here to serve this community, protect themselves and protect our community and if they feel like on a traffic stop they need to draw their gun and utilize it. I’m not gonna tell them when to do it and when not to do it.”

With McNeil’s legal team calling the traffic stop racial profiling, Waters said it’s not the case.

“I’m not playing the race game. This is not about race, it never is. It never has been, not since I’ve been here,” said Waters. 

So far, McNeil’s legal team has not made any legal filings.

One of his attorneys, Ben Crump, is calling for the arresting officer, Officer Bowers, to be fired and warned that anything less would warrant legal action.

Waters said the department will reserve further comments pending litigation.