Violence in Florida: excessive use of force by police against African-American

A storm has broken out in Florida after the release of a shocking video showing a 22-year-old African-American man being punched and dragged out of his car by police at a checkpoint. The incident dates back to 19 February, but the footage has been circulated in recent days. The man, William McNeil Jr., along with his family and lawyers will hold a press conference today at St. Paul's Church in Jacksonville at 10 a.m. local time. The video of the arrest, shot with a mobile phone from inside the car and gone viral, sparked outrage nationwide.

McNeil is seen sitting in the driver's seat in his car as he asks to speak to the Jacksonville officers' supervisor, when the officers break the window, punch him in the face, pull him out of the vehicle, beat him again and throw him to the ground. Civil rights lawyers accuse authorities of falsifying the arrest report, and McNeil's lawyers argue that the video clearly shows police brutality.

But Jacksonville's sheriff, T.K. Waters, claims that there is more to the images than meets the eye and has warned the public against 'making hasty judgments' and coming to erroneous conclusions.

In particular, bodycam footage shows that McNeil was repeatedly asked to exit the vehicle. Furthermore, although McNeil had previously opened the car door while talking to the authorities, he later closed it and appears to have kept it locked for about three minutes before the officers forcibly dragged him out, as seen in the video. The location of the body camera makes it difficult to see the fists.