William McClish preparing to attack Orlando police officers in a video he streamed on Facebook Live and mug shot (Orlando Police Dept.)
A 29-year-old man in Florida who last year turned down a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for five years may now spend the remainder of his life locked up for brutally ambushing two police officers in an attack that he streamed live on Facebook.
Orange County Circuit Court Judge Keven B. Weiss on Tuesday ordered William McClish to serve a sentence of life in prison after being convicted on charges of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with great bodily harm, among others, authorities announced.
In a news release, prosecutors with the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office said jurors took less than an hour to find McClish guilty on all charges following a two-day trial.
Acting as his own defense attorney, McClish tried to convince jurors that he had been set up, keeping his opening remarks to a single sentence.
“I didn’t do it and the evidence was tampered with,” was all he said, according to the state attorney’s office.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, the unprovoked attack took place at about 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 25, 2021.
Uniformed officers Michael Zambito and Stephen Hurt with the Orlando Police Department were standing outside their patrol vehicle at North Magnolia and East Washington Street when Zambito spotted McClish, who appeared to be setting up a cellphone to record a video of the officers.
Shortly thereafter, McClish struck Hurt in the back of the head with a brick and then started punching Hurt as he fell to the ground. Zambito intervened, lifting McCliup from behind. But McClish bit Zambito’s bicep, then “slipped his head out of Zambito’s grip and began gouging Zambito’s left eye with his fingers. When the officer managed to “stop the defendant from gouging his eye out,” McClish bit the middle finger on the officer’s left hand, the affidavit states.
As McClish and the officer continued to struggle, McClish grabbed the officer’s radio hand mic, pulling it off his shoulder to prevent him from calling for help.
Additional officers who were already en route arrived a short while later and they were able to subdue McClish and take him into custody.
Prosecutors said they later learned that McClish had positioned his phone against a trash can, trained it on the two officers and streamed the attack on Facebook Live. Just before beginning the recording, McClish filmed and posted another video in which he speaks to the camera, saying, “I’m gonna kill him on Live.” Prosecutors said that video established that McClish intended to kill the officers.
Additionally, while incarcerated, McClish “boasted about his attempt to take the officer’s firearm during the assault,” prosecutors said.
According to a report from Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV, prosecutors under then-State Attorney for the Ninth Circuit Monique Worrell offered McClish a deal in 2023 in which he would serve only five years by pleading guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer. However, McClish reportedly rejected the deal in August 2023.
When the state attorney was removed from office and replaced, new prosecutors said there was no explanation for why a deal was ever offered to McClish. Earlier this year, McClish attempted to have the deal brought back to the table but was denied.
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