Police Union Says Tyreek Hill Was ‘Uncooperative’ During Traffic Stop

by Daniel Johnson

September 10, 2024

Hill addressed the incident in an interview with NBC Nightly News, saying he believed if he hadn’t been NFL wide receiver Tyreek Hill, he might have ended up dead.

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As BLACK ENTERPRISE As previously reported, Tyreek Hill was violently arrested before the Miami Dolphins’ home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 8. After the body camera video was released to the public on September 9, both the police union and the Miami Dolphins released statements. The Dolphins called the officer who pulled Hill from his vehicle extremely aggressive and violent, while the police union said the star wide receiver was uncooperative.

According to The AthleticAfter police approached Hill, he rolled up his window. Police asked him to keep it down, and when Hill did not roll it down at their request, an officer opened his car door, grabbed him by the neck, and pulled him out of the vehicle. Hill was placed face down on the street and handcuffed.

“It is both infuriating and heartbreaking to see the people we trust to protect our community use such unnecessary force and hostility toward these players,” the Miami Dolphins organization said in a statement released Sept. 9.

Hill discussed the incident in an interview with NBC Evening Newssaying he believes if he hadn’t been NFL wide receiver Tyreek Hill, he might have ended up dead.

“If I hadn’t been Tyreek Hill, God knows I probably would have been, worst case scenario, I would have been shot or locked up” and “put behind bars, you know, for a simple speeding ticket. And it’s crazy that police officers would go to that extent.”

Hill continued: “It went from 0 to 60, man, from the moment those guys pulled up behind me, knocked on my window, it went from 0 to 60 right away.” Some of his teammates, including defenseman Calais Campbell, came to witness the arrest, and Hill said Campbell was likely stopped because he was a large black man.

“When I saw Jonnu (Smith) and Calais coming… I didn’t feel alone anymore,” Hill said. “They ended up handcuffing Calais just because he was 7’4″, I think. But it was crazy. It was crazy how the same cop that took me down handcuffed Calais just because he was standing to the side. That cop was really in a state of abuse of power,” he said. “He felt like he just needed to… do something that day, you know. But like I said, I’m glad nobody got hurt.”

Hill’s attorney, Julius Collins, released a statement to ESPN indicating that the receiver’s legal team was beginning to explore its options. “Mr. Hill’s legal team is exploring all legal remedies that may be available to Mr. Hill, as we believe the officers’ actions on September 8, 2024 were excessive.”

Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement, in part, that Hill alone bears blame for the escalation of the situation.

“If Mr. Hill had simply complied, it would have only accelerated the process. He chose not to do so, he chose to escalate the situation and turn it into something bigger than the Dolphins’ victory itself,” Stahl said.

Collins disputed that assessment of the situation in his statement to ESPN“To be clear, the traffic stop of Mr. Hill by Miami-Dade Police Department officers was originally a traffic violation, but was later escalated after Mr. Hill provided officers with his driver’s license and subsequently rolled up his window,” Collins said.

Collins continued: “One of the officers then knocked on Mr. Hill’s driver’s side window and advised him to keep his window down or he would remove him from the car. Mr. Hill had his window down and this officer then demanded that Mr. Hill exit the vehicle, even after Mr. Hill complied with his request to keep his window down. Immediately thereafter, another officer aggressively approached Mr. Hill’s vehicle and stated something to the effect of ‘if we have to break this damn window, we will.’ Mr. Hill rolled down his window each time the officers asked him to do so.”

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