On Sunday, Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill was forcibly removed from his car after being pulled over for speeding and placed in handcuffs by Miami-Dade Police. The altercation occurred just hours before he proved crucial to a Miami victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Miami-Dade Police Department released the body-cam footage the following day, despite typically having to undergo a complete internal review first.
Immediately following its release, the Miami Dolphins issued a harsh rebuke of “the overly aggressive and violent conduct directed towards Tyreek Hill . . .”
“It is both maddening and heartbreaking to watch the very people we trust to protect our community use such unnecessary force and hostility . . .,” the statement read. No mention was made of Hill’s initial lack of cooperation.
The veteran NFL star was stopped for reckless driving and speeding. When the officer knocked on the wide receiver’s window, Hill repeatedly said, “Don’t knock on my window like that.” The officer informed Hill that he must knock to make him aware of his presence.
Hill then said, “Just give me my ticket so I can go. I’m finna be late. Do what you gotta do.”
Hill proceeded to roll his tinted window up again before the officer ordered him to roll it back down two additional times.
It was then that the officers removed Hill from the vehicle and took him to the ground in handcuffs.
“Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs,” said Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association.
“Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground. Once the situation was sorted out within a few minutes, Mr. Hill was issued two traffic citations and was free to leave.”
One police officer was placed on administrative leave following the incident.
In a postgame press conference, Hill claimed he had “no idea” why the officers put him in handcuffs. “I wasn’t disrespectful because my mom didn’t raise me that way,” Hill said.
“What if I wasn’t’ Tyreek Hill? Lord knows, like, what that guy, or guys, would’ve did.”
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Hill explained that he was quick to roll up his window after the initial interaction with the officer because he didn’t want bystanders to recognize him and cause a scene.
“I’m not trying to cause a scene because . . . if I let my window down, people walking by, driving by, they’re going to notice that it’s me and they’re going to start taking pictures. I didn’t want to create a scene at all, I just really wanted to get the ticket and then just go out about my way and have a great Sunday,” he said.
Hill’s teammate Calais Campbell was also handcuffed after he pulled over to try to de-escalate the situation. Campbell said the officers at the scene told him to leave, and when he didn’t immediately comply, they handcuffed him.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel implied in the post-game press conference that race was a factor in Hill’s treatment, saying that he doesn’t understand what it feels like to be treated aggressively by police.
It’s been hard for me not to find myself more upset the more I think about it,” McDaniel said at a press conference. “And that’s because of my teammates and trying to put myself in that situation that they described emotionally, and then knowing more than that, the thing that f**ks me up, honestly, is knowing that I don’t know exactly what that feels like.”
“I do think that it’s supremely important to wait for information to be gathered before any rush to judgement, but regardless, I know the feelings expressed to me are unsettling,” he added.
The police report was made public on Tuesday, and Hill was cited for speeding at a “visual estimation of 60 mph.” He also received an additional seatbelt violation.