Body cam footage from the arrest of Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill outside the team’s stadium Sunday morning has intensified the controversy over whether the NFL star or police were to blame for a situation that escalated rapidly.
The footage was released by Miami-Dade police after one officer was put on administrative leave following viral video of a handcuffed Hill being placed face down outside Hard Rock Stadium before the team’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
According to ESPN, Hill was initially pulled over for speeding by an officer, who approached his car a minute later.
“Upon arrival, the officer knocks on Hill’s car window, prompting Hill to roll down the window, hand the officer his driver’s license and repeatedly tell the officer not to knock on his window,” ESPN reported.
The outlet adds: “The footage also shows the officer asking Hill to keep his window down. The incident escalates when Hill doesn’t comply.”
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Despite being repeatedly asked to keep his window down, Hill, visibly in a hurry, told the officer to just write the citation and let him go.
“Give me my ticket, bro, so I can go, I’m gonna be late. Do what you gotta do,” he said.
When Hill rolled his window down slightly and said, “Don’t tell me what to do,” then rolled it back up, the officer responded that if he put the window back up, he was “going to get you out of the car. As a matter of fact, get out of the car.”
Things went south very quickly from there, as video shows:
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WARNING: The following videos contain graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
Next video shows the interaction from when the officer approaches Tyreek Hill’s car until his detainment. It sounds as though Hill called his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, while in the car get before being pulled from his car pic.twitter.com/XytuySDPag
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) September 9, 2024
The officer who first approached Tyreek Hill did not know who Tyreek Hill is.
“You know who that is?”
“No.”
“That’s one of the Dolphins star players.”
“Oh yeah?” pic.twitter.com/OkC2SRE9o9— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) September 9, 2024
The Tyreek Hill detainment from a second body camera. Some of the language and video may be disturbing for some. pic.twitter.com/2Qq4JwYxCI
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) September 9, 2024
Despite the fact that Hill says “I’m gonna get out, I’m gonna get out,” the officer grabbed him and removed him from the car. Another officer can be seen grabbing him by the back of his head and neck.
“When we tell you to do something, you do it, you understand?” one of the officers told Hill. “Not when you want, but when we tell you. You’re a little f***ing confused.”
Hill told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that he wanted to keep the window rolled up to keep from causing a scene.
“If I let my window down, people walking by, driving by, they’re going to notice that it’s me,” Hill said.
“And they’re going to start taking pictures, and I didn’t want to create a scene at all. Like, I just really wanted to get the ticket and then go on about my way,” the star receiver explained.
“It just went from 0 to 60, man, from the moment that those guys pulled up behind me, knocked on my window, it went from 0 to 60 immediately,” Hill said in a separate interview.
I’m told by sources Tyreek Hill was cited for reckless driving as a result of his incident outside the stadium with police. After he was pulled over, he got into a verbal altercation with police. The officer chose to place Hill in handcuffs. He was cited and released after the…
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) September 8, 2024
Hill ended the interaction by telling the officers he would “see y’all in court” before getting back into his car after the 25-minute process came to an end.
While the video backed up a report from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington that Hill “got into a verbal altercation with police,” it also seemed to back up Hill’s assertion that he “didn’t cuss” at them, made during post-game remarks, although his claim that “I wasn’t disrespectful” depends on one’s interpretation of Hill’s behavior during the stop.
That being said, reaction on social media seemed to back Hill, noting how quickly a situation over a minor traffic stop deteriorated and the lack of any de-escalation tactics:
An overreaction by officers to a private citizen not doing what they asked. Stopped for speeding, police ask you to get out and bark like a dog, doesn’t mean you have to do it. Abuse of power and overreaction by officers. Hill didn’t comply,but reaction by officers, uncalled for.
— Mark Saunders (@msaunders9430) September 9, 2024
They have every right to keep that area safe, but the way they do it IMO shows they knew they F’d up. They knew moments into the 2nd Cop pulling Reek out of the car, they had just F’d up. This to me is a nervous reaction to the situation.
The 2nd Cop IMO has to be let go. He…
— rHinosYth (@rHinoSyth) September 9, 2024
Why does he keep saying “I gave you an order” like he’s the king of something. His presence isn’t illegal or dangerous. What makes cops think they can give orders that are enforceable with cuffs. If these guys weren’t stars, this would be swept under the rug. Hope they sue!
— Brad (@bctampa75) September 10, 2024
However, Hill’s long history of run-ins with the law — beginning in 2014 as a student at Oklahoma State University, where he pleaded guilty to assaulting his pregnant girlfriend — also factored into social media reaction, with many noting that this wasn’t his first encounter with law enforcement and that he didn’t follow the orders given to him.
On the football field, Hill had a productive Sunday, managing seven catches for 130 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown, in the Dolphins 20-17 win over the Jaguars. During his touchdown celebration, Hill had teammate Jaylen Waddle “handcuff” him to mock the arrest.
“You learn to laugh and have a good time,” Hill said, regarding the celebration.
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