CNN
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Miami-Dade police on Monday released body camera footage of officers detaining Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill in the hours before the wide receiver played in Sunday’s opening game of the season.
CNN is reviewing the video of the four officers responding to a traffic stop. One shows the initial contact with an officer knocking on the driver’s side window of Hill’s sportscar after signaling for the wide receiver to pull over. Hill rolls down the window when the officer knocks and replies, “Hey, don’t knock on my window like that.”
The officer asks Hill why he doesn’t have a seatbelt on. Hill doesn’t answer and repeatedly says, “Don’t knock on my window like that.”
The officer asks why Hill had his window up and says he had to knock to let Hill know he was there.
“Give me my ticket, bro so I can go, I’m going to be late. Do what you got to do,” Hill says before rolling up the window.
The officer tells him to keep his window down and knocks again, but Hill doesn’t appear to respond. The officer knocks again and tells Hill to keep his window down. Hill rolls down his window slightly and responds, “Don’t tell me what to do.”
The officer threatens to make Hill get out of the car if he doesn’t keep the window down, and then immediately after orders him out.
Another officer opens Hill’s car door and starts to pull him out of the car, saying, “Get out!” while Hill responds, “I’m getting out.”
Two officers are seen pushing Hill to the ground while another officer stands over. Hill is heard saying “I’m getting arrested” multiple times, and the one officer physically restraining him says, “When we tell you to do something, you do it. You understand? You understand? Not what you want, but what we tell you. You’re a little f**cking confused.”
Hill is heard saying, “I’m getting out, I’m getting out,” and the same officer says, “Too late.”
Hill told NBC on Monday he was opening his door to get out of the car when officers dragged him out.
“If I wasn’t Tyreek Hill, lord knows, I probably would have been like, worst-case scenario, I would have been shot or would have been locked up” and “put behind bars, you know, for a simple speeding ticket,” Hill told NBC News.
“And that’s crazy that officers would take it, you know, to that level.”
Police released more than an hour-and-a-half’s worth of body camera footage from officers on Monday night, despite saying earlier in the day that the video would not be released until after an internal investigation was completed.
“While standard protocol is to release body cam footage after the internal review has concluded, the available body cam footage – a combined 105 minutes 33 seconds – is being released the day following the incident to reinforce the Department’s commitment to keeping the public informed,” Director Stephanie V. Daniels of the police department said in a statement.
Hill’s agent called the Miami Dolphins star’s detention “heartbreaking, upsetting and uncalled for” in an interview with CNN earlier on Monday as the local police union began to defend the officers involved.
Speaking to CNN’s Sara Sidner, Drew Rosenhaus said he was “in disbelief” about what took place after he was pulled over for a moving violation.
“Tyreek was just trying to get to work, trying to play a game, just trying to do his job,” Rosenhaus said on “CNN News Central.” “For police officers to detain him, to put him on the ground like that, to put their knee on him, to hit him – it’s just devastating.”
Daniels said on Sunday that an investigation has begun into the incident and that one of the officers involved is being placed on administrative duties. Police confirmed to CNN that a second Dolphins player, Calais Campbell, was also handcuffed when trying to discuss the situation with officers at the scene.
On Monday, the South Florida Police Benevolent Association defended the actions of the officers involved, highlighting that Hill was never placed under arrest.
“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,” Steadman Stahl, the organization’s president, said in a statement to CNN.
“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.
“In this case, while we will wait for the investigation to run its course, based on what we know, we stand with the actions of our officers but look forward to further open communication moving forward,” Stahl added.
The officers’ actions were “excessive,” said Julius B. Collins, an attorney for the wide receiver, adding his team is exploring all legal remedies.
“Mr. Hill understands the inherently dangerous job that law enforcement is tasked with and understands that officer safety is important; however, at no point in time did Mr. Hill pose a threat to these officers,” Collins said Monday. “We believe that this matter was escalated due to overzealous officers attempting to impose their authority on Mr. Hill because they were not pleased with how fast he complied with their request and that Mr. Hill did not roll down his window far enough to their liking.”
Collins said Hill is appreciative of his celebrity status but “it is not lost upon him how so many others in similar situations have met a different fate. and how fortunate all parties involved were able to walk away from this matter.”
Hill scored an 80-yard touchdown in Miami’s 20-17 victory against the Jaguars, celebrating by putting his arms behind his back with his wrists together – perhaps alluding to being in handcuffs earlier Sunday.
Rosenhaus said he believed the celebration was a way of Hill “coping” with the incident.
“It’s just embarrassing for images where you’re in handcuffs and you’re on the ground with police (having) their knee on you, pushing you and treating you like the criminal,” he said. “Absolutely believe that celebration was his way of coping with something that was so upsetting.”
Rosenhaus added: “To Tyreek’s credit, it was remarkable that he was able to compose himself. He was able to go and play the game, making a sensational play, an 80-yard touchdown to help the team win, come from behind. His performance was epic.
“But what happened before the game was disgraceful, unacceptable and cannot happen in this society. Who would have thought after George Floyd that we would still see people treated like this unfairly and unnecessarily?”
Hill said after Sunday’s game that he was still confused by his pregame encounter with police.
“I wasn’t disrespectful because my mom didn’t raise me that way, didn’t cuss, didn’t do none of that. Like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out,” Hill said at his postgame press conference.
Rosenhaus told CNN Monday that there is “no question” that there will be “ramifications” to come out of the incident involving Hill.
“If Tyreek wasn’t a world-class athlete and in incredible shape, who knows how this could have impacted him,” he said. “He was sore. He was hurting. He was physically and mentally distraught – something where we’re seeking answers – and we will pursue this to the fullest extent of the law.”
On Monday, Campbell recalled how he arrived at the scene of his teammate’s detention and attempted to diffuse the situation.
Speaking on ESPN, the 17-year NFL veteran said he got out of his car with his hands up and approached the police officers, saying, “I’m a friend of his (Hill). I don’t know what’s going on here, but I think the situation is definitely unnecessary.”
Campbell said he was told to leave, with an officer threatening to tow his car if he didn’t go away.
“I told him I will stand where you want me to stand. You tell me how far I need to back up, and I’ll back up, but I’m not leaving the scene,” Campbell recounted. “This is my friend here. I’m here to support him. I’m not leaving.”
After not vacating, Campbell, in his first season with the Dolphins, said the officer told him he was under arrest and put Campbell in handcuffs.
The defensive tackle said Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith was also at the scene as Hill pleaded with both teammates: “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.”
Campbell told ESPN he was thankful he was there to support Hill.
“These situations can escalate quickly. We see it so many times in America where these things go completely bad. This is a big opportunity for us to use this platform to combat police brutality that happens. This situation could have been a whole lot worse had we not been there.”
After being released by police, Campbell said Hill was “frustrated and flustered” and told others he wouldn’t play against the Jaguars.
The Dolphins are back in action on Thursday when they face their divisional rivals, the Buffalo Bills, at Hard Rock Stadium.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
