Miami-Dade Police Release Body Cam Video of Tyreek Hill's Arrest
The arrest of the Miami Dolphins player has been widely discussed, and now the Miami-Dade Police have released the body cam footage of the incident.
The Miami-Dade Police Department in Florida released footage on Monday of the arrest of Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill, who was treated violently by officers. The video, recorded by body cameras worn by the officers, shows how the altercation between the Miami-Dade police and Hill escalated quickly.
Initially, the video shows two officers pursuing Hill after he apparently sped past them on the road leading to Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Dolphins. The incident occurred before his team’s season opener in the NFL.
The officers activated their lights and forced Hill to pull over. One of the officers struck the driver’s side window and asked him to roll it down, which Hill did, handing over his driver’s license.
A discussion then ensued between the officer and Hill. At one point, Hill tells the officer to issue him a ticket and let him go as he is running late, while starting to roll up his window.
“Keep the window down,” the officer said, striking the glass. Hill partially rolled down the window and said, “Don’t tell me what to do,” before rolling it back up.
The officer then ordered him to lower the window and said, “I’m going to pull you out of the car. In fact, get out of the car.” The officer, assisted by others, then forcibly removed Hill from the vehicle, placing his arms behind his back and pinning him face down on the ground while handcuffing him.
At this point, one of the officers was seen with his knee on Hill's back. “If we tell you to do something, do it,” the officer said.
Hill responded, “Take me to jail, man, do what you have to do.” The officers confirmed they would take him to jail, to which Hill replied, “You’re crazy.”
The officers then lifted Hill and escorted him to the sidewalk. An officer asked him to sit on the curb, but when Hill refused and mentioned he had undergone knee surgery, another officer placed his arm around Hill’s chest and forced him to sit.
After the video was made public, Hill expressed his shock during an interview with CNN, stating he was still in disbelief over the arrest.
“I was shocked. It was crazy because everything happened so fast. For me, it all happened so quickly that I really couldn’t process everything that was going on,” Hill said in his first interview since the footage was released.
The incident has reignited the debate over police violence against African Americans in the U.S. Human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, have repeatedly accused local police departments of using disproportionate violence against this community.
In recent years, the deaths of several African Americans at the hands of police have shocked the U.S. and led to protests and even riots, such as the death of George Floyd in 2020 in Minneapolis and Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson.