Jacksonville, Florida - Footage of Florida deputies smashing in a Black man's car window and punching and dragging him from the vehicle has sparked renewed public outrage over police violence.

A cellphone video and subsequently released bodycam footage of the February 19 traffic stop show a white officer smashing the window of William McNeil Jr.'s car and violently beating him.

Before that, the 22-year-old driver had asked why he was being pulled over. He was told he didn't have his headlights on.

In the video, McNeil replies that he does not need headlights, as it is the middle of the day and not raining. He does not get out of his car right away and asks to speak to the officer's supervisor.

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One of the white officers breaks the windshield with his fist and appears to punch McNeil in the face. The cellphone video shows the driver holding up his empty hands, though the arresting officer's report claims he was reaching for the floorboard of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting."

The report claims the deputies later found a knife when searching the vehicle.

McNeil is dragged from the vehicle as an officer strikes him again. He is violently forced to the ground and handcuffed.

"Force absolutely looks ugly," Sheriff TK Waters told reporters on Monday. "Whether or not the officer involved acted within or outside JSO [Jacksonville Sheriff's Office] policy, that's still what we are investigating."

Waters said he assumed McNeil shared the cellphone footage because he "intended to inflame the public," claiming that "important facts" about the incident had been concealed to further what the sheriff called an "anti-police agenda."

McNeil was charged with resisting a police officer without violence, driving on a suspended license, and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.

He is represented by renowned civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels.

"What happened to William McNeil Jr. is a disturbing reminder that even the most basic rights – like asking why you've been pulled over – can be met with violence for Black Americans," the legal team said in a statement.

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"William was calm and compliant. Yet instead of answers, he got his window smashed and was punched in the face, all over a questionable claim about headlights in broad daylight," the statement continued.

"This wasn't law enforcement, it was brutality."

"We demand full accountability from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and justice for William McNeil Jr."