A Black man punched by a white officer files a federal lawsuit against a Florida sheriff's office

A 22-year-old Black man who was punched in the face by a white officer in Florida filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday, seeking $100,000 in damages.

Attorneys for a 22-year-old Black man who was punched in the face by a white officer in Florida during a traffic stop filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday, seeking $100,000 in damages.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, centers on a Feb. 19 encounter in which William McNeil Jr. was pulled over and allegedly hit in the face by Officer D. Bowers after he refused to get out of his car.

Bowers, Officer D. Miller, Sheriff Thomas Kevin Waters and the city of Jacksonville are named as defendants. McNeil says in the lawsuit that the impact fractured one of his teeth and caused a traumatic head injury. McNeil later pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer and driving on a suspended license.

The lawsuit claims the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office “enforces a policy that allows its officers to utilize unwarranted and excessive physical force against an individual who poses no immediate threat.”

It also claims the sheriff’s office allows officers to refrain from reporting instances when they use physical force on someone.