A screenshot from Miami-Dade Police Department body camera footage shows an officer arresting Miami Dolphins player Tyreek Hill after a traffic stop on Sunday.
Miami-Dade Police/NPR Screenshot
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Miami-Dade Police/NPR Screenshot
A traffic stop involving Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill escalated quickly on Sunday, as police forcibly pulled Hill out of his car less than a minute after stopping him and eventually handcuffed him for nearly 20 minutes, as footage emerged. by Miami-Dade Police Department programme.
The incident occurred hours before the Dolphins’ game against the Jacksonville Jaguars was set to begin and captured national attention on the first Sunday of the NFL season.
The police let Hill go and he eventually joined the game.
Miami-Dade police on Monday released more than 105 minutes of body-worn camera footage “to demonstrate our commitment to transparency and maintain public trust,” police department director Stephanie Daniels said in a statement.
Afterward, Dolphins call it an accident “insane and heartbreaking,” and criticized the actions of some of the officers. “While we commend the MDPD for taking the right and necessary action to quickly release this footage, we also call on them to take equally swift and strong action against the officers who engaged in such despicable behavior,” the group said.
One officer, whose name has not been released by police, has been placed on administrative duty. “The police department is committed to conducting a thorough, impartial investigation into this matter, and we will continue to update the public on the results of that process,” Daniels said.
Miami-Dade police were seen pulling Dolphins player Tyreek Hill out of his car after it was stopped near the stadium before a Jacksonville Jaguars game on Sunday.
Miami-Dade Police/NPR Screenshot
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Miami-Dade Police/NPR Screenshot
After Sunday’s game, Hill said he “knew nothing” why he was handcuffed. “I don’t want to bring up race, but sometimes it gets a little ambiguous when you do that,” he said. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? God knows what that guy or those guys would have done.”
What the footage shows
The new footage shows the incident from start to finish, starting with two officers riding motorcycles on a wide road just outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. When a black sports car drove by, the officers split up to give chase.
The time stamp reads 10:17 a.m. ET, less than three hours before the Dolphins-Jaguars game is set to kick off in the afternoon. Fans wearing Miami jerseys can be seen walking by.
An officer is heard telling Hill that he was speeding. Hill rolls up his window, and then the officer and Hill argue about whether Hill should roll down his window. Hill objects to the officer tapping on the window. The officer asks why Hill isn’t wearing a seat belt. “Give me the ticket, man, so I can go. I’m going to be late,” Hill says. “Do what you gotta do.”
In an interview on CNN on Monday nightHill explained that he rolled up his window because there were too many people passing by. “If I rolled down my window, people walking by, driving by, they would recognize me. They would start taking pictures. I didn’t want to create a scene,” Hill said. “I really just wanted to get the ticket and move on.”
Throughout the videos, one officer’s behavior stands out. After an exchange of words over the window, the officer says, “We’re not playing this game.” He is then seen opening Hill’s car door and reaching into the car to pull Hill out, with the officer’s hand grabbing the back of the player’s neck. He pushes Hill to the ground and handcuffs him, with the help of other officers, while Hill appears surprised.
“When we tell you to do something, you do it. Do you understand?” the policeman shouted. “Not what you want, but what we tell you to do.”
The police then pulled Hill over to the side of the road. When Hill did not immediately comply with orders to sit down, instead of remaining standing, an officer — the same one who had forcibly pulled Hill out of the car — ran over and tackled Hill to the ground.
This screenshot from a Miami-Dade Police body camera shows police after Dolphins player Tyreek Hill was handcuffed following a traffic stop on Sunday. Hill was talking to a teammate who was driving by and witnessed the incident.
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Throughout the footage, the aggressive officer is seen shouting at Hill, and several bystanders attempt to defuse the situation, including Hill’s teammates Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith, both of whom are seen on the recording. Other officers appear to be more calm. Hill appears outraged at times and repeatedly complains about the officers’ behavior.
“You know who that is, right?” a cop said to the officer who had initiated the traffic stop. “That’s a star player for the Dolphins.”
The situation ended after additional police and the Miami Dolphins’ chief of security arrived.
The incident left Dolphins players and staff in a state of panic.
Hill was cited for reckless driving and not wearing a seat belt. The first officer who decided to pursue Hill later estimated that the football player was driving at 60 miles per hour. In a video, Tyreek tells another officer that he was driving 55 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone.
Campbell, a Dolphins defensive end who won the 2019 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his philanthropy, said Sunday that he approached the officer to try to defuse the situation. When Campbell raised his hands in the air, officers yelled at him to back off. “Do you want to be handcuffed, too?” one officer asked. Campbell was handcuffed, although police later said he had not been served with a citation.
The incident sent shockwaves through the Miami Dolphins locker room ahead of Sunday’s game, which the Dolphins won 20-17. Hill scored one of the touchdowns in the victory.
“It’s hard for me not to feel more upset when I think about it,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said after the game.
A lawyer representing Hill said the officers’ actions were “excessive” and Hill “will pursue all available legal remedies”.
