Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill told reporters during his post-game press conference on Sunday that he had “no idea” why an officer pulled him out of his car and handcuffed him after he was stopped for a traffic violation before Miami's home opener against the Jaguars.
Now that police body camera footage has been released, we know why he was dragged from his car, and it wasn't because he's Black.
On Monday night, video of the traffic stop went viral online, giving the world a glimpse into what happened before the NFL's fastest man was forcibly removed from his McLaren 720S sports car.
The video clearly shows Hill being dragged away and handcuffed after he failed to lower his tinted windows as instructed by officers.
No police jurisdiction on Earth would allow a driver to ignore an officer's commands and roll up their tinted windows to block the view of what the police are doing inside their vehicle. How can an officer ensure their own safety, the safety of their fellow officers, and the public if they cannot physically see what the person pulling them over is doing?
Short answer: you can't.
Hill, confused as to why he was treated so roughly, told reporters, “I honestly have no idea. I have no idea. I have no idea. It's crazy. I have no idea. My mom didn't raise me like that, I wasn't disrespectful. I didn't swear or anything like that. So, like I said, I'm still trying to figure it out.”
Really? Isn't it rude to ignore a police officer while you're on the phone with an agent?
Hill also appeared on CNN on Monday night and said the situation could have turned out much worse if he wasn't a superstar NFL player.
Is that the question to ask? A better question would be, “What would have happened if Tyreek Hill had followed the police's instructions?”
The only way to conclude that the officers mistreated Mr Hill is to accept the premise that a person in police custody has the right to refuse police directions, which is completely unreasonable.
The officers did not make any weird demands on Hill to undergo a strip search in the middle of the road. They simply told him to roll down his window. Unfortunately, they are perfectly within their rights to command anyone to do that, whether they're an NFL star, a regular citizen, white or black.
There's a lot we still don't know about this case. For example, we still don't know exactly how fast Hill was going. If he was only a few miles over the speed limit, the officers' actions might be described as overzealous. If he was going 40 or more miles over the speed limit, the officers' actions would be more understandable. But one thing is clear: If Tyreek Hill had followed the officers' commands, the chances of him being pulled out of his car and handcuffed would have been extremely slim.
But that wasn't the case: instead, he was rude to the officers, ignored their clear instructions, and called the agent.
If Tyreek Hill were white, not only would he receive no sympathy for his actions, he would face widespread scorn and ridicule from black and white people alike, and be derided as a “Karen” with an out-of-control sense of personal entitlement.
And that is the treatment he deserves.
