Last Sunday, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was driving his black McLaren 720S to Hard Rock Stadium for the team's season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars when he was stopped by Miami-Dade County police and issued tickets for reckless driving and operating without a license.
According to Hill, he was forcibly removed from his vehicle, pushed to the ground and illegally handcuffed, though he assured everyone he was “very cooperative from the beginning.”
Shortly after the incident, one of the officers involved in Hill's detention was placed on administrative leave.
However, police union president Stedman Staal defended the officers' actions, issuing the following statement: “Although Mr. Hill did not immediately cooperate with officers on scene when he was stopped, officers followed protocol and handcuffed Mr. Hill for his immediate safety. Mr. Hill remained uncooperative and refused to sit on the ground, so he was forced to sit on the ground.”
So what is the truth? Was Tyreek Hill justly or unjustly detained?
Jason Whitlock analyzes recently released body camera footage from the incident.
“I sit here in shock and amazement that anyone would defend Tyreek Hill,” he said.
“There's a video of Tyreek Hill speeding past police at what appears to be a construction site. … Tyreek rolled down his window at first, but the officer told him while he was still on his bike, 'We're going to pull you over for speeding.' Tyreek pulled over, gave the guy static, wouldn't leave his window up. He did everything he could to provoke and provoke the officer,” Jason said, adding, “Tyreek Hill chose to get agitated, and the officer got agitated.”
But what really strikes Jason is how the media is portraying Tyreek as a “good guy,” when recent history has shown how dangerous professional athletes, especially NFL players, can be on the road.
Jason pointed to former Las Vegas Raiders player Henry Ruggs, who is currently serving time in prison for a drunk driving incident that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old woman, and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Ruchy Rice, who is charged with one count of criminal homicide causing serious injury and six counts of criminal homicide causing injury in a hit-and-run incident in March.
Jason believes the Tyreek Hill scandal means that we actually need “a racist incident to make headlines during election season.”
He said the media's reaction seemed to be, “Let's ignore the fact that Tyreek was speeding. Let's ignore the fact that he didn't follow police commands. They dragged him out of his car, he's an athlete, a celebrity and a black man worth millions of dollars, so the police are wrong all along. Let's have a full-on discussion about police brutality.”
“This is a crazy, stupid, foolish world we have created,” he charges.
To hear more of Jason's analysis and see body camera footage that captured Hill in action, watch the episode above.
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