Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing back against the idea that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) is guilty of any wrongdoing regarding new video of a traffic stop that ended in violence.
“I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard that it was debunked,” DeSantis said. “There was a narrative that was done, and then JSO provided the context, and things were a lot different.”
DeSantis said there’s no reason for him to be concerned and rejected any need to learn the facts about what happened.
“Maybe I’ll review it, you know, at some point. But I kind of heard about it,” DeSantis said. “Then I heard the response, and I’m like, yeah, that kind of checks out to me without even knowing any of the facts. I just know how this stuff works, right?”
The driver, William McNeil, was allegedly pulled over in February during the day for not having headlights on. It was not raining and the sun was out. He was punched and forcibly subdued after not cooperating with the traffic stop.
The video went viral in recent days. But Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters has said “the cell phone camera footage that began viral circulation over the weekend does not comprehensively capture the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
“And that is to be expected. Part of that stems from the distance and perspective of the recording cell phone camera,” Waters added.
“Another part of it stems from the fact that the cell phone camera did not capture the events that preceded Officer (D.J.) Bowers’ decision to arrest McNeil. Moreover, cameras can only capture what can be seen and heard. So much context and depth are absent from recorded footage because a camera simply cannot capture what is known to the people depicted in it.”
DeSantis agrees with that take, saying that in cases like McNeil’s, “a rush to judgment” and a “desire to try to get views and clicks by creating division” can predominate, as it did in Ferguson, Missouri, a decade ago.
“I mean, you had CNN anchors saying, hands up, don’t shoot. Like, basically, the narrative was you had this guy, innocent, unarmed, has his hands up, and some rogue cop just guns him down. And they were saying race was the reason to do it,” DeSantis said.
“Turns out, even Eric Holder’s Justice Department did a thorough investigation and said the officer acted appropriately under the circumstances. And so, you know, you had these situations where people will want to make an issue, but I have every confidence in our Sheriff here in Jacksonville that if there’s anything that these guys are not living up to the standards, he’s going to hold them accountable.”
DeSantis made the comments Wednesday at Jacksonville’s Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
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