NFL wide receiver Tyreek Hill is considering legal action after body camera footage emerged of an interaction with police ahead of the start of the NFL season.
Hill was detained by police during a traffic stop before the Miami Dolphins-Jacksonville Jaguars game, which the Dolphins won 20-17. After the game, Hill said in a press conference that he was cooperative with police but didn't know why he was handcuffed to the ground.
“My mom didn't raise me like that, I didn't swear or anything like that, so I wasn't being disrespectful,” he explained.
The next day, shocking body camera footage taken by the Miami-Dade Police Department was released, revealing exactly what happened.
“Keep your window up or I'll take you out of the car.”
The footage shows Hill being pulled over in a black McLaren with heavily tinted windows and an officer asking him why he wasn't wearing his seat belt, while Hill can be heard telling the officer, “Don't knock on the window like that.”
Hill gave the officer his identification and told him to hand over the ticket. Hill then Window closedAfter officers asked him to roll down his window, Hill rolled it down about 25 percent of the way.
“Keep your window up or I'm going to take you out of the car,” the officer said in a heavily accented voice, before quickly adding, “Actually, get out of the car.”
After threatening to break the car window, it took officers about nine seconds to drag Hill from the vehicle, before he was taken to the ground and handcuffed.
The officer then helped the football player to his feet, then determined he was not cooperating and forced him down again. Hill said in the video that he was trying to lower himself slowly because he had recently had knee surgery.
In a later interview with CNN, Hill said he was still in shock from the incident and that if he hadn't been “Tyreek Hill,” the worst that could have happened would have been that he would have been shot by police.
Host Kaitlan Collins Read the statement The president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association recounted the incident from their perspective.
The statement said Hill “did not immediately cooperate with officers at the scene. Following policy, officers handcuffed Mr. Hill for his immediate safety.”
The statement continued, “Mr. Hill remained uncooperative and refused to sit on the ground, so he was forced to sit on the ground.”
“The situation was resolved within minutes and Mr. Hill was issued two traffic tickets and was free to leave,” the statement concluded.
In an interview with NBC Nightly News, Hill was asked whether he would dispute the police union's assertion that he wasn't cooperating.
“Everybody has their own position, their own point of view,” Hill said, and agreed that police unions should defend their members.
“You have to protect your teammates,” Hill said.
The athlete continued, “At the end of the day, if you come up to somebody with hostility and you knock on their window and they've already got their ID, you know what I'm saying, they're prepared for you. It's not like I said, 'You can't get my ID, you can't get my ID,'” Hill said. explanation“That's when I said, 'I.d. please,' and I rolled down my window. The officer said, 'Roll it down,' and I rolled down my window. That's when it went from zero to 10. Another officer came and pulled me out.”
As a result, Hill said he has hired an attorney and is “exploring all legal remedies.”
Par Out kickHis lawyers said Hill was grateful for his “celebrity” status but was uneasy about how the situation might have played out for someone without such social status.
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