A traffic stop involving the Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill escalated rapidly on Sunday, as officers forcibly removed Hill from his car less than a minute after pulling him over and ultimately detained him in handcuffs for nearly 20 minutes, as footage released by the Miami-Dade Police Department shows.
The incident took place a few hours before kickoff of a game between the Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars and garnered national attention on the first Sunday of the NFL season.
Police let Hill go and he ultimately took part in the game.
On Monday, Miami-Dade police released more than 105 minutes of footage from officer-worn cameras "in our commitment to transparency and maintaining public trust," department director Stephanie Daniels said in a statement.
Afterward, the Dolphins called the incident "maddening and heartbreaking" and criticized the actions of some of the officers. "While we commend MDPD for taking the right and necessary action to quickly release this footage, we also urge them to take equally swift and strong action against the officers who engaged in such despicable behavior," the team said.
One officer, whose name has not been released by police officials, has already been placed on administrative duty. "The department is committed to conducting a thorough, objective investigation into this matter, and we will continue to update the public on the outcome of that process," Daniels said.
Miami-Dade Police / Screenshot by NPR
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Screenshot by NPR
After Sunday's game, Hill said he had "no idea" why he had been placed in handcuffs. "I don't want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do," he said. "What if I wasn't Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what that guy or guys would have done."
What the footage shows
The new footage shows the incident from start to finish, beginning with two officers on their motorcycles on a wide road just outside of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. As a black sports car zips by, the officers pull away to pursue.
The timestamp reads 10:17 a.m. Eastern time, less than three hours before kickoff of that afternoon's game between the Dolphins and the Jaguars. Fans in Miami jerseys can be seen walking by.
An officer is heard telling Hill that he had been speeding. Hill rolls up his window, and then the officer and Hill verbally spar over whether Hill must roll it down. Hill objects to the officer knocking on the glass. The officer asks why Hill was not wearing a seatbelt. "Give me my ticket, bro, so I can go. I'm going to be late," Hill says. "Do what you gotta do."
In an interview on CNN Monday night, Hill explained that he had rolled up his window because of the large number of passersby. "If I let my window down, people walking by, driving by, they're going to notice that it's me. They're going to start taking pictures. I didn't want to create a scene at all," Hill said. "I just wanted really wanted to get the ticket and go about my way."
Throughout the videos, the behavior of one officer stands out. After an exchange of words about the window, the officer said, "We're not playing this game." He is then seen opening the door of Hill's car and reaching into the vehicle to forcibly pull Hill out, the officer's hand grabbing the back of the player's head. He forces Hill to the ground and handcuffs him, with the help of other officers, as Hill expresses surprise.
"When we tell you to do something, you do it. You understand?" the officer shouts. "Not what you want, but what we tell you."
Shortly after, officers move Hill to the curb. When Hill does not immediately obey an order to sit down, rather than continue to stand, an officer — the same one who forcibly pulled Hill out of his car — runs over to physically force Hill to the ground.
Miami-Dade Police / Screenshot by NPR
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Screenshot by NPR
Throughout the footage, the aggressive officer is shown yelling at Hill and various bystanders who attempt to de-escalate the situation, including Hill's teammates Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith, both of whom are seen in the recordings. Other officers behave more calmly. Hill is at times indignant and complains repeatedly about the officers' conduct.
"You know who that is, right?" one officer says to the officer who initiated the traffic stop. "That's a Dolphins star player."
The situation ends after the arrival of more police and the Miami Dolphins head of security.
The incident rattled Dolphins players and staff
Hill was cited for careless driving and failure to wear a seatbelt. The original officer who first decided to pursue Hill later estimated that the football player had been driving at 60 miles per hour. In one video, Tyreek recounts to another officer that he had been going 55 in a 40 mile-per-hour zone.
Campbell, a Dolphins defensive lineman who won the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 2019 for his charitable work, said Sunday that he had approached in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. As Campbell raises his hands in the air, officers shout at him to back up. "You want to be handcuffed, too?" one officer asks. Campbell was handcuffed, though police later said he had not received any citation.
The incident deeply rattled 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 been hard for me not to find myself more upset the more I think about it," said Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel after the game.
A lawyer representing Hill said that the officers' actions had been "excessive" and that Hill "would pursue all legal remedies that may be available."
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