Attorneys for a man at the center of a Jacksonville traffic stop gone viral after posting video of himself being punched in the face by JSO officers in February have formally asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the case, according to a letter shared by civil rights attorney Ben Crump's office. Crump, alongside civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, is representing William McNeil Jr., the man JSO officers confronted in a violent altercation at a traffic stop on Feb. 19, 2025. McNeil was shown in a now-viral cell phone video being struck in the face twice by JSO officers after refusing to leave his car, asking for a supervisor. JSO released body camera footage of the incident in July in response to the viral video, showing McNeil closing his door and locking it after Ofc. D.J. Bowers ordered him out of the car. Crump and Daniels penned a letter to the DOJ on Sunday, requesting the department investigate whether the incident violated federal civil rights laws. Crump's office said they are requesting the DOJ to investigate the case after McNeil sustained multiple injuries in the incident, which they call an "assault." The law firm said McNeil sustained a traumatic brain injury. Investigators with the State Attorney's Office said the use of force by Bowers in the case was legal and not subject to prosecution, a point Crump and Daniels take issue with in their request. "The State Attorney’s Office expended considerable effort in their report to rationalize Officer D. Bowers’ actions," Crump and Daniels say in the letter. "Initially, the State Attorney’s Office made a conscious decision to refrain from utilizing a fundamental prosecutorial strategy of interviewing the alleged victim, Mr. McNeil, in assessing the potential for criminality."