JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Nationally renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump was back in Jacksonville on Tuesday, this time representing a local mother who was arrested outside her daughter’s school Oct. 7. That arrest was captured on cell phone video where Erika McGriff can be seen in a scuffle with a JSO officer.
Crump, speaking at The Sanctuary at Mt. Calvary Church in on Kings Road, claims this is another example of excessive force against a Black motorist.
William McNeil Jr., joined Crump and McGriff at the news conference at the church. He was involved in a highly publicized and viral traffic stop in February 2025 which was captured on his cellphone showing a Jacksonville police officer breaking his car window, punching him, and dragging him out of the car. Crump is also representing McNeil and has filed a federal lawsuit from the incident that sparked nationwide outrage and calls for a Department of Justice investigation.
Prosecutors cleared the deputy of any wrongdoing in that case.
Read: Civil rights attorney Ben Crump joins case against JSO over violent arrest of local mother
On Friday, JSO released body cam footage of the arrest of Erika McGriff, who was approached by an officer last Tuesday outside IDEA Bassett Charter School.
When the officer attempted to bring McGriff to his car a fight between McGriff and the officer breaks out, before McGriff is taken to the ground and repeatedly claims she can’t breathe as the officer attempted to put her in cuffs.
JSO claims the officer was hit and bit by McGriff during the struggle and she’s been charged with battering a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and driving with a suspended license.
But McGriff’s attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels claim the officer did nothing to deescalate the situation and used excessive force.
“The type of force used on Erika McGriff, the chokeholds, the hair grabbing, the being punched with closed fists in the face, having a knee put on her neck, should be reserved for armed and dangerous criminals who are a threat to the public and our safety, but not for mothers who are double parked to go pick up their daughter from school so she won’t get rained on,” Crump said.
During a news conference Friday, Sheriff TK Waters addressed the incident, laying the blame on McGriff for fighting the officer and refusing to comply.
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