(LA CROSSE, Wis.) — A 22-year-old graduate student who disappeared after leaving a bar early Sunday morning has been found dead in the Mississippi River, according to the La Crosse Police Department.
Eliotte Heinz, a graduate student at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, was last seen on Sunday at approximately 3:22 a.m. near the Mississippi River, police said. According to her missing person poster, Heinz was allegedly seen leaving Bronco’s Bar in La Crosse at approximately 2:30 a.m.
Heinz’s body was found in the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minnesota, on Wednesday, police said.
“This was not the outcome we had hoped for throughout this search. Our thoughts are with Eliotte’s family, friends and all those who knew Eliotte. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from so many within the La Crosse community, the State of Wisconsin and nationally to locate Eliotte,” police said in a statement on Wednesday.
Police said they are continuing to investigate and “will await the results of an autopsy for an official cause of death.”
Viterbo University said in a statement the community is “heartbroken by this loss” and extends “our deepest sympathies to her families and friends.”
“There are no words that can ease the pain of losing someone so young, with so much life ahead of her. Our hearts go out to to Eliotte’s family. We hold them in our prayers and stand with them in their grief,” Viterbo University President Rick Trietley.
Earlier Tuesday, police had said the search for Heinz remained active, with “numerous resources” being utilized as they continue to receive tips.
Members of the community gathered to search for Heinz and hand out copies of her missing person poster.
Heinz’s family had asked for residents in the area to review home security camera footage from early Sunday morning between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., saying “even the smallest detail could make a difference.”
“The outpouring of supporting in the search efforts for Eliotte has been overwhelming, and we are deeply grateful for the kindness, prayers and encouragement from the community and beyond,” the family said in a statement shared on the university’s social media on Tuesday prior to the discovery of her body.
Viterbo will hold a memorial service for Heinz this fall, “in coordination with her family once students return to campus,” the university said in a statement.
(WASHINGTON) — Lawmakers from both parties have so far rejected steep cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed by the Trump administration and reiterated their support for a fully staffed National Weather Service (NWS) during recent committee meetings, which included key appropriations markup sessions.
While the House and Senate spending bills for fiscal year 2026 are still in the early stages of the legislative process, initial drafts indicate bipartisan pushback against the significant cuts outlined in the administration’s budget proposal, released earlier this year.
For fiscal year 2026, which begins Oct. 1, the Trump administration proposed cutting NOAA’s budget by roughly 25%, including the elimination of its research division, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and making major reductions to other key offices such as the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), the world’s largest provider of weather and climate data.
The budget proposal stated, “The FY 2026 budget eliminates all funding for climate, weather, and ocean Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes. It also does not fund Regional Climate Data and Information, Climate Competitive Research, the National Sea Grant College Program, Sea Grant Aquaculture Research, or the National Oceanographic Partnership Program.”
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies advanced a spending bill with bipartisan support last week that would fund NOAA at levels mostly in line with budgets of previous years.
The fiscal year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill provides roughly $5.8 billion to NOAA in 2026, a 6% decrease from the previous year. However, it restores a majority of funding for NOAA’s Operations, Research and Facilities (ORF) account, which includes OAR. While specific spending details have not yet been released, this would likely spare many critical research labs and climate institutes from potential cuts.
During the July 15 markup session, Subcommittee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., expressed his support for the National Weather Service, emphasizing the recent toll of devastating flooding hitting the country.
“Flooding has inflicted much pain on this nation over the last few months,” he said. “From my district in Kentucky to Texas, now is the time to ensure the National Weather Service is equipped with the funding it needs to warn and protect our citizens.”
At the start of the markup session, Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the subcommittee’s ranking Democrat, voiced concerns over both the proposed NOAA budget and recent staffing and funding cuts at the National Weather Service.
“Weather forecasts are not waste, fraud and abuse,” she said. “I ask my colleagues, did anyone come to your town halls and complain that the National Weather Service has too many meteorologists? Too many people issuing advisories, watches and warnings on severe storms?”
DeLauro also cited concerns from Bill Turner, Connecticut’s state emergency management director, who said the situation is “a very fragile house of cards right now, and we need them to continue… It really could be catastrophic in a lot of ways for our state if they go down that path of stopping the National Weather Service and their functionality.”
The bill now advances to the full committee for a markup on Thursday, July 24.
The Senate’s version of the bill allocates approximately $6.14 billion to NOAA for fiscal year 2026, just below the $6.18 billion approved for 2025. While this represents a modest overall decrease, the Senate Committee on Appropriations voted to boost spending for the agency’s Operations, Research and Facilities (ORF) account, adding $68.7 million. The increase means more available funding that could go to key offices such as OAR, NWS and NESDIS (National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service).
The current Senate bill explicitly signals support for NOAA’s mission, including weather and climate research.
“The Committee strongly supports Climate Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes for their critical role in delivering high-quality weather information and driving economic benefits across the United States,” the bill states.
The bill also addresses staffing concerns at local NWS offices across the country and provides additional funding to ensure they become fully staffed.
The bill’s authors write, “Insufficient staffing levels risk compromising public safety and the NWS’s mission to protect lives and property. The Committee provides an additional $10,000,000 for Analyze, Forecast and Support and urges the NWS to prioritize recruitment, retention, and training initiatives to ensure all weather forecast offices (WFOs) are fully staffed.”
While introducing the bill, Jerry Moran, R- Kan., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Science and Justice, said, “NOAA, and particularly the National Weather Service, is a hugely important component of what this bill funds, and this bill recognizes that importance.” He added that the bill “fully funds the National Weather Service” and “eliminates any reduction in the workforce.”
However, Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, raised concerns that the bill still gave too much discretion to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine the staffing levels needed to fulfill the agency’s mission and statutory obligation — “the Office of Management and Budget which clearly made the judgment that the National Weather Service has too many human beings working,” Schatz said.
He introduced an amendment that would have required the administration to maintain full-time staffing at levels in place as of Sept. 30, 2024, but it was rejected along party lines.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations approved the Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act on July 17 by a vote of 19-10.
What does the Trump Administration want to cut? The administration’s budget proposal calls for eliminating the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) as a NOAA Line Office, with several of its functions transferred to the National Weather Service and the National Ocean Service. OAR leads NOAA’s weather and climate research and develops many of the forecasting tools meteorologists rely on to produce timely and accurate forecasts.
The proposed budget would include shutting down NOAA’s nationwide network of research labs and cooperative institutes. Among them is the Global Systems Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model, a critical tool in modern weather forecasting, was first developed more than a decade ago. The HRRR model helps meteorologists track everything from severe thunderstorms to extreme rainfall to wildfire smoke.
The Global Monitoring Laboratory, also based in Boulder, oversees operations at Mauna Loa Observatory on Hawaii’s Big Island. This observatory has maintained the world’s longest continuous observation of atmospheric carbon dioxide and has been crucial to our understanding of how human-caused greenhouse gas emissions fuel global warming.
NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) in Miami, Florida, plays a vital role in operational hurricane forecasting. The lab develops cutting-edge tropical weather models that have significantly improved forecast accuracy in recent decades. National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasters set a record for forecast track accuracy in 2024, according to a NOAA report. NHC issued 347 official forecasts during the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, and its track predictions set accuracy records at every forecast time period.
Who will lead NOAA next? Earlier this month, during a confirmation hearing, Dr. Neil Jacobs, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head NOAA, said he supports the administration’s proposal to significantly cut the agency’s budget arguing the reductions could be achieved by shifting work from research to operations without impacting “mission essential functions.”
Jacobs also said if confirmed, he would “ensure that staffing the weather service offices is a top priority,” adding that, “It’s really important for the people to be there because they have relationships with the people in the local community. They’re a trusted source.”
NOAA’s 2025 budget costs Americans less than $20 per person this year.
ABC News reached out to NOAA for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia upon his release from criminal custody in Tennessee.
Abrego Garcia has been awaiting his release on bail after pleading not guilty last month to human smuggling charges in Tennessee.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled on Wednesday that the U.S. government “shall restore Abrego Garcia to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office.”
Judge Xinis also ordered the government to provide written notice to Abrego Garcia and his attorneys if they intend to remove him to a third country.
This decision follows a separate ruling in Abrego Garcia’s criminal case where U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw denied the government’s motion to revoke a magistrate judge’s order for Abrego Garcia’s release. Judge Crenshaw said on Wednesday that Abrego Garcia “shall be released upon the issuance of the Magistrate Judge’s release order with conditions.”
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which he denies.
He was brought back to the U.S. last month to face charges in Tennessee of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. while he was living in Maryland.
The government has indicated it intends to detain Abrego Garcia and deport him to a third country if he is released from custody.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Prosecutors have filed murder charges against a man accused of shooting and killing a woman who was walking her dogs in San Leandro, California, earlier this month.
Rohith Sunil, 21, was charged with felony murder, assault with a semi-automatic gun and carrying a loaded weapon in public in the July 17 shooting death of 41-year-old Casey Way, according to the Office of District Attorney of Alameda.
Prosecutors have also included sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a firearm causing death.
Way was walking her dogs with her boyfriend when she was allegedly approached by Sunil, according to prosecutors. He allegedly had a conversation with the couple before suddenly pulling out a handgun and shooting her, prosecutors said.
Way was transported to Eden hospital after suffering from a single gunshot wound. She later succumbed to her injuries, according to a probable cause declaration.
Way’s boyfriend told police that the couple was walking from their apartment to a liquor store when a black sedan pulled up alongside them and parked. A man wearing a black ski mask and all black clothing and who had a tattoo under one of his eyes got out of the car and confronted them, asking if the city they were in was Oakland and how to get back to San Jose, according to the declaration.
Way then began to look up directions on her phone to help the suspect. As she was doing so, the suspect noticed she was wearing a red bandanna and began to ask her if she was in a gang, which Way and her boyfriend denied, according to the declaration.
The suspect then pulled out a black pistol and pointed it at the couple, who backed away from him.
“The suspect laughed and racked the pistol slide, ejecting a live round onto the ground. The suspect then pointed the firearm at the victim and fired a single shot, striking her on the right side of her body,” the witness told police, according to the declaration. The suspect then allegedly got back in the vehicle and fled the scene.
Way’s boyfriend told police that he did not know the suspect and that this was a “random act,” according to the declaration.
Sunil is being held in Santa Rita Jail without bail, according to jail records.
Sunil “personally and intentionally discharged a firearm, and caused great bodily injury and death to Casey Lyn Way,” and “inflicted great bodily injury on another person,” a criminal complaint against Sunil said.
On July 18, Dublin Police Department officers arrested Sunil after they received a call from a victim who said he was being followed around by a vehicle, according to the declaration.
Police located the vehicle and contact the individual inside, Sunil, and while speaking with him a semiautomatic firearm fell out of his waistband, according to the declaration. Dublin officers were not aware of the murder investigation but booked Sunil at Santa Rita Jail.
Sunil was interviewed by police and he allegedly admitted to having the gun and being the sole occupant of the car on the day of the murder. Police say he told them he had been “black out” drunk from drinking at a friend’s house and denied knowing anything about the murder, according to the declaration.
Sunil matched the appearance and clothing description given to police by witnesses to the murder as did his vehicle.
Sunil is not listed with the Department of Justice as the registered owner of a pistol, revolver or other firearm capable of being concealed on his person, according to court documents.
Sunil’s plea hearing is scheduled for Monday.
If convicted, Sunil could be sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison, according to the district attorney’s office. Attorney information for Sunil was not immediately available.
(LOS ANGELES) — A doctor pleaded guilty Wednesday to distributing ketamine to Matthew Perry before he died, becoming the fourth person convicted in connection with the “Friends” actor’s 2023 overdose death.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine during a hearing in Los Angeles Wednesday morning, the Department of Justice said.
“Dr. Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment decisions he made while providing ketamine to Matthew Perry,” his attorney, Karen Goldstein, said in a statement. “He is fully accepting responsibility by pleading guilty to drug distribution.”
Plasencia intends to voluntarily surrender his medical license, “acknowledging his failure to protect Mr. Perry, a patient who was especially vulnerable due to addiction,” Goldstein said. He has indicated through his attorneys that he will surrender his medical license in the next 30 to 45 days, prosecutors said.
“While Dr. Plasencia was not treating Mr. Perry at the time of his death, he hopes his case serves as a warning to other medical professionals and leads to stricter oversight and clear protocols for the rapidly growing at-home ketamine industry in order to prevent future tragedies like this one,” Goldstein said.
Plasencia was one of five people charged in the wake of Perry’s death from a ketamine overdose on Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 54. The actor was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home, police said. An autopsy report revealed he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
The operator of an urgent care clinic in Malibu, Plasencia had been set to go on trial in August in the case prior to reaching a plea agreement. He will remain out on bond until his sentencing hearing on Dec. 3, with prosecutors saying he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each count.
His conviction comes after Mark Chavez, a second doctor charged in the case, pleaded guilty to distributing ketamine in October 2024. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September.
According to Plasencia’s plea agreement, he distributed 20 vials of ketamine, ketamine lozenges and syringes to Perry and the actor’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, between Sept. 30, 2023, and Oct. 12, 2023.
Plasencia “admits that his conduct fell below the proper standard of medical care and that transfers of ketamine vials to Defendant Iwamasa and Victim M.P. were not for a legitimate medical purpose,” his plea agreement stated.
Iwamasa, who admitted in court documents to administering the ketamine on the day that Perry died, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, the DOJ said. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November.
According to his plea agreement, Perry asked Iwamasa to help him procure ketamine in September 2023 and provided his assistant with “money, or promised to reimburse him, and directed him to find sources from whom to acquire the drugs.”
One of Plasencia’s patients introduced him to Perry on Sept. 30, 2023, with the unidentified patient referring to the actor as a “‘high profile person’ who was seeking ketamine and was willing to pay ‘cash and lots of thousands’ for ketamine treatment,'” according to Plasencia’s plea agreement.
Plasencia contacted Chavez, who had previously operated a ketamine clinic, to discuss Perry’s request for ketamine and purchased vials of liquid ketamine, ketamine lozenges and other items from him, according to the agreement.
In discussing how much to charge Perry, Plasencia said in text messages to Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets [sic] find out,” the Department of Justice said.
Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry at the actor’s home on several occasions, and left vials and lozenges with Iwamasa to administer, according to the plea agreement. In one instance, he was paid $12,000 for such a visit, according to the agreement.
One such instance occurred outside of the home, when Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry in a parking lot near an aquarium in Long Beach, according to the plea agreement. Upon learning about that, Chavez “reprimanded” the other doctor “for ‘dosing people’ in cars, and in a public place where children are present,” Chavez’s plea agreement stated.
Plasencia returned to Perry’s home on Oct. 12, 2023, to administer ketamine, during which the actor’s blood pressure spiked, causing him to “freeze up,” according to Plasencia’s plea agreement.
“Notwithstanding Victim M.P.’s reaction, defendant left additional vials of ketamine with Defendant Iwamasa, knowing that Defendant Iwamasa would inject the ketamine into Victim M.P.,” the agreement stated.
After receiving 10 more vials of ketamine through a licensed pharmaceutical company using his DEA license, Plasencia texted Iwamasa on Oct. 27, 2023, according to the plea agreement: “I know you mentioned taking a break. I have been stocking up on the meanwhile. I am not sure when you guys plan to resume but in case its when im out of town this weekend I have left supplies with a nurse of mine …I can always let her know the plan.”
Perry died the following day after overdosing on ketamine, which Plasencia had not provided, according to the plea agreement.
Another defendant in the case, Eric Fleming, admitted in court documents that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He admitted in court documents that he distributed 50 vials of ketamine that he obtained from another defendant in the case — Jasveen Sangha — to Iwamasa, including the ketamine that killed Perry, the DOJ said. Fleming is scheduled to be sentenced in November.
Sangha, allegedly known as “The Ketamine Queen,” is accused of selling 50 vials of ketamine over two weeks to Perry, working with Fleming and Iwamasa to distribute the drugs to Perry, prosecutors said. She is accused of selling Perry the batch of ketamine that killed him.
Sangha pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in August.
(LA CROSSE, Wis.) — Wisconsin officials continue to search for a 22-year-old graduate student who disappeared after leaving a bar early Sunday morning, according to the La Crosse Police Department.
Eliotte Heinz, a graduate student at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, was last seen on Sunday at approximately 3:22 a.m. near the Mississippi River, police said. According to her missing person poster, Heinz was allegedly seen leaving Bronco’s Bar in La Crosse at approximately 2:30 a.m.
Police, along with Heinz’s family and friends, have made “several attempts to locate her with no success,” officials said in a statement on Sunday.
On Tuesday, police said the search for Heinz remains active, with “numerous resources” being utilized as they continue to receive tips.
Members of the community gathered on Tuesday to search for Heinz and hand out copies of her missing person poster.
Heinz’s family is asking for residents in the area to review home security camera footage from early Sunday morning between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., saying “even the smallest detail could make a difference.”
“The outpouring of supporting in the search efforts for Eliotte has been overwhelming, and we are deeply grateful for the kindness, prayers and encouragement from the community and beyond,” the family said in a statement shared on the university’s social media.
The family also said the “most important thing you can do is continue sharing Eliotte’s information on social media.”
Brielle Handrich, who went to high school with Heinz, told La Crosse ABC affiliate WXOW she hopes Heinz is “out there fighting her battle” and “knows that there’s people out there searching.”
Heinz is described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall, 106 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes, police said. She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and jean shorts, officials said.
Anyone who has any information on Heinz or her whereabouts should contact the La Crosse Police Department’s nonemergency line at 608-782-7575.
(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — William McNeil, Jr., the 22-year-old Florida man whose violent arrest by Jacksonville sheriff’s deputies was caught in a viral video, addressed the incident publicly for the first time during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
McNeil began his brief remarks by thanking those who supported him, then turned to the Feb. 19 incident.
“I was getting pulled over, and I needed to step out the car, and I know I didn’t do nothing wrong. I was really just scared,” he said.
He was also asked by a reporter what he was taught about dealing with law enforcement.
“Basically, what I was taught is to, instead of fighting them on the street where we don’t have power, fight them in the courts,” McNeil said in response.
McNeil’s mother, Latoya Solomon, said during the press conference that watching the video was emotionally difficult for her and it took her months to watch it in its entirety.
“I’m thankful to God for protecting him, because I know what the outcome could have been,” Solomon said
His stepfather, Alton Solomon, was visibly emotional while reflecting on the incident.
“To see that video made me go back to the moment when I was 22. It hurt,” he said.
McNeil is student at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, where he is also the leader of the marching band.
Speaking during the press conference, one of McNeil’s attorneys, Ben Crump, called for the firing of the deputy who punched McNeil during the incident.
“If you don’t terminate this officer and you condone this type of police excessive force, then it sends a message to all of the other police officers on the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office team. It tells them, it is OK for you to treat citizens like this, it is okay to treat Black motorists like this,” Crump said. “In America, it is not OK.”
On Monday, attorney Harry Daniels told ABC News that his client plans to take legal action.
“We are planning to do everything we can do to secure justice,” Daniels said when asked if the legal team plans to file a lawsuit. “We are seeking all options to ensure accountability.”
The sheriff’s office said on Sunday that the agency launched an investigation into the incident after the 2-minute cell phone video captured by McNeil went viral. On Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters also released body camera footage from two deputies who were present on the scene of the arrest.
In the video, sheriff’s deputies are seen beating and punching McNeil during the traffic stop after he repeatedly questioned why he was being pulled over and refused to exit his vehicle. The deputy who broke McNeil’s window and punched him was identified by Waters as D. Bowers.
“Pending the outcome of this administrative review, Officer Bowers has been stripped of his law enforcement authority,” Waters said. It is unclear if other deputies involved in the arrest have been placed on administrative leave.
Waters also announced on Monday that “the State Attorney’s Office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law,” but highlighted that the deputies’ actions are now being examined in an “administrative review,” which will determine if the deputies “violated [Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office] policy.”
ABC News has reached out to the Office of the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit serving Clay, Duval, & Nassau Counties for further comment.
It is unclear if Bowers has retained an attorney. ABC News has reached out to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for further comment, but have not heard back.
“I will neither defend nor commend officer Bowers’ response to resistance until all the facts are known and the investigation is completed,” Waters said.
(WASHINGTON) — The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, Ken Pagurek, resigned on Monday, multiple sources confirmed to ABC News.
Pagurek told colleagues he was frustrated by the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to dismantle FEMA and by new hurdles that slowed the agency’s response to the catastrophic flooding in Central Texas earlier this month, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Sources said he pointed to a new DHS policy requiring all spending over $100,000 to be personally approved by Secretary Kristi Noem as a key factor behind the delays and, ultimately, his decision to step down.
The news was first reported by CNN.
Pagurek had worked with FEMA’s search and rescue operations for more than a decade and had served as its chief for the past year.
Pagurek did not respond to a request for comment by ABC News.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told ABC News, “The attempt to spin a personal career decision into some big scandal is RIDICULOUS. It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight.”
“We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job,” McLaughlin said. “FEMA experienced no delays in deployment of assets, and Texas officials have unequivocally and vocally applauded the federal government and FEMA’s response. If anyone is upset by the end of unchecked, blank-check spending under President Trump’s administration, that says more about them than it does about us.”
(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — William McNeil, Jr., the 22-year-old Florida man whose violent arrest by Jacksonville sheriff’s deputies was caught in a viral video, is expected to speak out about the incident during a press conference outside the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday morning.
The sheriff’s office said on Sunday that the agency launched an investigation into the Feb. 19 incident after the 2-minute cell phone video captured by McNeil went viral. On Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters also released body camera footage from two deputies who were present on the scene of the arrest.
In the video, sheriff’s deputies are seen beating and punching McNeil during the traffic stop after he repeatedly questioned why he was being pulled over and refused to exit his vehicle.
What the video shows of McNeil’s arrest
McNeil was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy at 4:15 p.m. local time for allegedly not having his headlights on due to “inclement weather” and not wearing a seat belt, according to a police report obtained by ABC News.
Body camera video shows McNeil telling the deputy that it wasn’t raining and he didn’t need to have his headlights turned on and asked to speak with a supervisor. After McNeil locks himself in his vehicle and repeatedly refuses to exit, the deputy threatens to break his window and calls for backup, the video shows.
The body camera video and the 2-minute cell phone video both captured McNeil being punched and beaten after a deputy broke his car window.
The videos show McNeil speaking with a group of deputies and appearing to explain why he was pulled over by the first deputy who arrived on the scene.
“There’s no rain,” McNeil says in the video.
“It doesn’t matter,” a sheriff’s deputy can be heard saying as they ask him to exit his vehicle.
Harry Daniels, one of the attorneys representing McNeil, told ABC News Live anchor Kyra Phillips in the interview on Monday that his client refused to exit his vehicle because he was “afraid” of police.
“He is afraid. You know, in this environment, policing in America, especially young men of color, are very afraid of police,” Daniels said, adding that his client decided to begin recording the incident once the deputy refused to call a supervisor so he could dispute the traffic stop.
After McNeil again asks to speak with a supervisor, the videos show a deputy — who was identified by Waters on Monday as D. Bowers — breaking McNeil’s car window and punching him in the face while McNeil is facing forward. McNeil then appears to be pulled out of his car and is punched again as he is pushed down to the ground by multiple deputies and seemingly beaten.
“You’re under arrest,” officers can be heard saying as they push McNeil to the ground and hold him down.
The charges against McNeil
Court records show that McNeil was arrested and charged with “resisting arrest without violence to his or her person,” possessing not more than 20 grams of marijuana with intent to use drug paraphernalia, driving while driver’s license is suspended, not wearing a seatbelt and no headlights in rain/fog/or smoke.
Additionally, court records show that he was sentenced to and served two days in jail for resisting arrest without violence and driving with a suspended license.
“McNeil was arrested and pled guilty to resisting a police officer without violence,” Waters said. “Force absolutely looks ugly, and because all force is ugly, whether or not the officer involved acted within outside [Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office] policy, that’s still what we’re investigating.”
In the incident report filed by Bowers, the deputy does not mention that he punched McNeil while he was sitting in his car, but says that “force” was used after McNeil was removed from the vehicle.
The report filed by Bowers also claims that McNeil reached for a knife on the floor of his vehicle as officers opened the door.
The body camera video does not show McNeil reaching for a knife on the floor of his car.
The video does appear to show an object that the sheriff’s office identified as a knife on the floor of McNeil’s car that officers recovered after he was removed from the vehicle. A deputy can be heard pointing it out in the video.
A reporter pressed Waters on the claim that McNeil reached for a knife, saying, “I couldn’t see any clear indication of that in the video. Do you see that when you’re watching?””
“No, actually, I don’t see where his hands are. I can’t assume, no one can assume,” Waters said.
Daniels told Phillips on Monday that the claim that McNeil reached for a knife is a “lie,” and criticized the deputy for not disclosing that he punched McNeil in the incident report.
What’s next for McNeil and the officer
Waters announced on Monday that “the State Attorney’s Office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law,” but highlighted that the deputies’ actions are now being examined in an “administrative review,” which will determine if the deputies “violated [Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office] policy.”
ABC News has reached out to the Office of the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit serving Clay, Duval, & Nassau Counties for further comment.
“Pending the outcome of this administrative review, Officer Bowers has been stripped of his law enforcement authority,” Waters said. It is unclear if other deputies involved in the arrest have been placed on administrative leave.
“I will neither defend nor commend officer Bowers’ response to resistance until all the facts are known and the investigation is completed,” Waters said.
It is unclear if Bowers has retained an attorney. ABC News has reached out to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for further comment, but have not heard back.
On Monday, Daniels said that his client plans to take legal action.
“This officer broke his window and just punched him in his face. Mr. McNeil suffered very significant injury,” Daniels said.
“We are planning to do everything we can do to secure justice,” Daniels said when asked if the legal team plans to file a lawsuit. “We are seeking all options to ensure accountability.”
(DETROIT) — A man has been arrested and charged with murder in Michigan after a call for help suddenly cut off, police said.
The incident occurred on Saturday morning around 6:45 a.m. when police in Shelby Township, near Detroit, received a 911 call from a man who immediately hung up the phone, according to a statement from police.
Officers were then sent to the apartment to check on the welfare of the occupants, police said.
“Upon arrival, officers were met at the door by Terrance Lamar Bowie, a 29-year-old male from Casco, Michigan,” authorities said. “Bowie made statements to officers indicating that there was a dead body located inside of the apartment.”
Officers then found the body a 27-year old woman in a bedroom. She has not been identified.
“Evidence gathered from the scene indicates that this was a homicide, and the suspect, Terrance Lamar Bowie, was placed under arrest,” police said.
Authorities confirmed that this “was not a random act of violence, as the victim and Bowie were both known to each other.”
Bowie was arraigned on Tuesday in district court and charged with second degree murder and scene tampering. His bond was set at $2 million by Judge Stephen Sierawski.
Bowie’s next court appearance will be in August, officials said.
“Think twice before committing a crime in Shelby Township. Our team is committed to the safety and security of our residents and business owners,” said Police Chief Robert J. Shelide. “However, if you commit a violent crime in Shelby Township, we will leave no stone unturned and pursue you until you are brought to justice.”
