Unprovoked Violence by Slave Patrol was Lawful but Immoral. Strawboss Sheriff and Racist Suspect DA Clear Cops who Arrested William McNeil; Stopped for Driving While Black w/o Lights On During the Day

From [HERE] A white police officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was reprimanded for failing to report that he punched a Black college student in the face during a traffic stop, but he was cleared of using unnecessary force.

Will McNeil Jr. was punched and dragged from his car in February in an episode that attracted national attention. A video shows sheriff's deputies beating and punching McNeil during a traffic stop after he repeatedly questioned why he was being pulled over and refused to exit his vehicle in an incident that occurred on Feb. 19, 2025.

The white State Attorney’s Office in Duval County ruled earlier that Officer Donald Bowers acted lawfully and that no criminal charges would be filed against him. The sheriff’s office then completed an internal affairs investigation to determine whether agency rules were violated.

That results of the investigation, released Friday, state that Bowers was exonerated for his use of force. But he was reprimanded because he did not mention in his report that he struck McNeal.

Bowers was stripped of his law enforcement duties during the internal investigation, but they have since been restored.

McNeil was pulled over just after 4:15 p.m. Feb. 19 because his vehicle “did not have its headlights or tail lights illuminated in inclement weather.” The booking report said the driver was not wearing a seat belt. Yet, on video McNeil is shown wearing a seat belt. Also, it is clearly not raining or dark outside.

In the video, he tells the officer it’s not raining. The officer acknowledges that it is not raining and responds “it doesn’t matter” and that the driver is still required to have headlights turned on (during the day).

McNeil asks the officer to show him that law, which the officer says he will do “when you step out of the car,” the report said. McNeil asks for a supervisor, and a voice is heard saying, “All right, go for it” as his window is smashed out.

In the video, McNeil is told to “exit the vehicle now,” then gets punched by an officer. Another officer demands McNeil get out, followed by another punch to his face.

In the video, McNeil holds up both hands and waits for the door to be opened. He is pulled out, grabbed by his head and hair and shoved down, and an officer punches McNeil in the face again.

McNeil hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump to file a lawsuit against the police department

In ruling the officer’s actions lawful, State Attorney Melissa Nelson said McNeil created a dangerous situation by refusing to follow officers’ instructions.

BELIEF IN AUTHORITY IS THE PROBLEM. Nothing can ever change with regard to police brutality or the police murders of Black people so long as police possess the power to use force offensively on “citizens.” Petitioning puppeticians to defund or lower police department budgets or even “reforming the law on police use of deadly force” to make an officer’s claim of justifiable force the same as a civilian-defendant's claim of self-defense, would still have minimal effect on the extraordinary police power to use force offensively on citizens.

Political “authority” is the idea that government and its representatives have the legal and moral right to forcibly control people, and that, consequently, people have the moral and legal obligation to obey.’ In short, authority is the right to command and correlatively the right to be obeyed. It is the implied right to rule people. As representatives of authority, police officers are empowered to use force offensively to enforce laws against citizens who are correspondingly legally and morally obliged to obey authority on a content neutral basis (whether they agree or not).

Although we all know that an unwanted offensive touching by another person is wrong and that physical force used offensively on people against their will is immoral and evil, nevertheless, when such conduct is done by government agents they are exempt from rules of morality and legality due to the concept of “political authority.” As Michael Huemer explained, “acts that would be considered unjust or morally unacceptable when performed by non-governmental agents will often be considered perfectly all right, even praiseworthy, when performed by government agents” because they are believed to possess “authority.” Authority is the hypothesized moral property that 1) enables governments to use physical coercion (here meaning violence) in ways not permitted by citizens and 2) legally obliges citizens to obey government agents, rules and orders under the threat of physical harm (coercion). Where a government legitimately has “authority” it thus has the implied right to rule over people in a particular place or jurisdiction.

To be clear, all persons have the natural, inalienable right to defend themselves and come to the defense of others if they believe another person is in imminent danger from an aggressor. Private security guards work under this natural law of self-defense. In contrast though, police officers and other representatives of authority have the additional “power” to act offensively as aggressors - to initiate unprovoked acts of violence against people whenever they deem it necessary to enforce law. As such, police are permitted to engage in conduct that “citizens” can never lawfully do, such as; stop individuals, touch them against their will, attack (make arrests) people, kill people, interfere with their freedoms in many ways (search interrogate, order etc), kidnap people (that is, ‘detain and transport’) or imprison them because higher authorities have empowered them to do so. [MORE]