A police officer dragged Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill out of his sports car by his arm and head and then forced him face first onto the ground after Hill put up the window of his sports car during a traffic stop before Monday morning’s (AEST) NFL game, body camera video shows.
The video showed that the altercation between the Miami-Dade County officers and Hill — arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL — escalated quickly.
The officers cursed at Hill but he did not resist their physical force or strike at them. He did tell one officer, “don’t tell me what to do”.
Six officers’ body camera videos have been released.
Police Director Stephanie Davis said the tape would normally not be released while the investigation is ongoing, but she wanted to demonstrate the department’s “commitment to transparency and maintaining public trust”.
Video shows that two motorcycle officers went after Hill after he appeared to speed past them in his McLaren sports car on the roadway entering Hard Rock Stadium in light traffic.
They turned on their lights and pulled Hill over. One knocked on the driver’s window and told him to put it down, which Hill did and handed him his driver’s licence.
“Don’t knock on my window like that,” Hill told the officer repeatedly.
“I have to knock to let you know I am here,” the officer told Hill while repeatedly asking why the player didn’t have his seatbelt on.
“Just give me my ticket, bro, so I can go. I am going to be late. Do what you gotta do,” Hill told the officer while putting his tinted window back up.
“Keep your window down,” the officer told him, again tapping on the glass. Hill can still be seen inside.
Hill cracked the window and said, “don’t tell me what to do”.
He put the window back up. The officer again told Hill to put it back down or “I am going to get you out of the car. As a matter of fact, get out of the car”.
Tyreek Hill speaks to the media after his team’s opening NFL game, where he was arrested outside the stadium before kick-off. (Getty Images: Don Juan Moore)
The officer then demanded Hill open the door. Another officer stepped up and said, “Get out of the car or I will break that … window,” using an obscenity.
The door opened and the second officer reached in and grabbed Hill by the arm and the back of the head as the player said, “I am getting out”.
The second officer forced Hill face-first onto the ground.
Three officers pulled Hill’s arms behind his back as Hill yelled into his mobile phone, “I am getting arrested Drew.”
It was unclear if he was talking to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, or the team’s director of security, Drew Brooks. Both soon showed up at the scene.
The officers handcuffed Hill and one put a knee in the middle of his back and said “If we tell you to do something, do it.”
“Take me to jail, brother, do what you gotta do,” Hill replied.
“We are,” an officer said.
“You crazy,” Hill said to the officer.
The officers stood Hill up and walked him to the sidewalk. One officer told him to sit on the curb. Hill said to the officer he just had surgery on his knee.
An officer then jumped behind him and put a bar hold around Hill’s upper chest or neck. He pulled Hill into a seating position.
“Chill, bro,” Hill told the officers.
At that point, teammate Jonnu Smith parked his SUV in front of Hill’s car, got out and asked what was going on. The officers ordered Smith to get back in his vehicle and leave. They then told him they were going to give him a ticket for blocking the road.
Defensive tackle Calais Campbell also pulled up. He was told to leave and when he didn’t, he was briefly handcuffed.
Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Calais Campbell was also put in handcuffs during the altercation. (Getty Images)
Hill and Campbell were eventually released and allowed to go into the stadium. Hill received two citations but was never arrested. One officer was placed on administrative leave. An internal affairs investigation has been launched.
At one point, an arriving officer asked the first officer if he knew who Hill was.
“That’s one of the Dolphins star players,” the officer told him.
“Oh yeah?” the first officer responded.
Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, defended the officer’s actions, saying that Hill “was briefly detained for officer safety, after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great risk of danger.
“Upon being stopped, Mr Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on the scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr Hill in handcuffs. Mr Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground.”
Hill said he doesn’t understand why the situation escalated.
“I wasn’t disrespectful because my mum didn’t raise me that way. Didn’t cuss. Didn’t do none of that,” he said.
Julius B. Collins, Hill’s attorney, said the receiver’s legal team is exploring all legal options and called the officers’ actions “excessive.”
“Mr Hill understands the inherently dangerous job that law enforcement is tasked with and understands that officer safety is important;” read Collins’ statement, “however, at no point in time did Mr Hill pose a threat to these officers.”
Campbell said he tried to de-escalate the situation. He said he got out of his car with his hands up above his head and approached the scene, informing officers that he was a friend of Hill’s. He remained at the scene to “support” Hill.
“They were trying to yank him down to the ground,” Campbell said on ESPN.
“I saw them kick him and pull him down … I feel like one officer was pushing on his head.”
Hill, 30, said he wondered what would have happened to him if he weren’t an NFL star. Some of his teammates said they were used to seeing that sort of interaction.
“Excessive force on a Black man, that’s not uncommon,” said safety Jevon Holland.
“It’s a very common thing in America. So I think that needs to be addressed at a countrywide level.”
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday he was upset by the situation. McDaniel appeared to fight back tears as he reflected on the incident.
“It’s probably more visceral because, yes, I do spend a lot of time prioritising empathy, and when you know you can’t truly understand, the unknown is what crushes me,” McDaniel said.
“I can only forecast, and so my forecast — what if it’s worse?”
The Dolphins released a statement hitting out at the officers involved.
“We are saddened by the overly aggressive and violent conduct directed towards Tyreek Hill, Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith by police officers before yesterday’s game,” the statement read.
“It is both maddening and heartbreaking to watch the very people we trust to protect our community use such unnecessary force and hostility towards these players, yet it is also a reminder that not every situation like this ends in peace, as we are grateful this one did.”
In May, golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and taken to jail after being accused of not following police orders during an investigation of a pedestrian fatality outside Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky, during the PGA Championship. Criminal charges against the Masters champion were later dropped.
AP
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