Just days after video footage went viral of NFL player Tyreek Hill’s traffic stop ahead of his team’s first game of the season on Sunday, the Miami Dolphins wide receiver called for the firing of the police officer who tackled him.
On Wednesday, Hill commented that he “could have been better” about keeping his driver’s side window down as the officer requested during the traffic stop, but it doesn’t justify an officer tackling him, putting him in a chokehold, and forcing him onto the curve to sit down, critics say.
Yet, it’s part of the stark reality of driving while Black in America: of the 622 people who did not survive a traffic stop since 2013, most are men, according to the Mapping Police Violence database. And out of the 190 Black people killed, 186 were Black men such as Philando Castile, Patrick Lyoya, Daunte Wright and Tyre Nichols. (Jury selection began this week in the trials of three of the officers accused of killing Nichols.)
Over 13,000 people have been killed following an encounter with a law enforcement officer as of Aug. 29, according to the database.
And while Hill survived, the traffic stop highlights an even more common reality for Black people: having “the talk.” After the police body-worn camera footage was released Monday, Hill’s case revealed how feckless lawmakers’ discussions have been regarding police reform, and once again Black people had to have “the talk” with the children and young adults in their lives.
Hill said he received “the talk” multiple times in his life. Like many Black and brown people, he knows the rules on navigating traffic stops. But those step-by-step instructions can quickly be forgotten when confronted with flashing blue and red lights in the rearview mirror.
Hill, who has played in the Pro Bowl eight times, didn’t expect to face a traffic stop that could escalate into an arrest on Sunday.
But what played out is an all-too-familiar scene.
“I don’t think anyone else is surprised about what happened with Tyreek Hill. I think one of the age-old adages, at least in the Black community, is that it doesn’t matter about your money, your influence, or your power, there will be a time when a police officer reminds you that you are still a Black person,” Rodney Jacobs Jr., executive director for the city of Miami Civilian Investigative Panel, told Capital B.
Danny Torres has been identified as the officer who unnecessarily manhandled Hill while handcuffed. The 27-year law enforcement veteran is on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Hill was released from police custody after receiving a citation for carelessly driving his McLaren 720S coupe, and failing to wear a seat belt — the allegations carry penalties of $179 and $129, respectively, NBC News reported. (Some critics say he was pulled over for a pretty “mundane” violation.) And like most Black professionals after experiencing racism and microaggressions on a daily basis, Hill tucked away his feelings, showed up at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to play against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and won the game, 21-17.
During a post-game press conference Sunday, Hill, a 30-year-old originally from Georgia, seemed uncomfortable bringing race into why he was stopped.
“Sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do,” he said.
Then, he doubled back, to touch on the regular consequences of driving while Black in America.
“What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill?” Hill asked. “Lord knows what that guy or guys would have done. I was just making sure that I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you’re in a situation like that: ‘Just listen, put your hands on the steering wheel and just listen.’”
Hill is not the first prominent Black person to have a run-in with police while driving and given a bogus reason for why the stop was made in the first place.
In June 2017, Aramis Ayala, a former state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties in Florida, was stopped for allegedly having dark-tinted windows that she later argued were not in violation of the law, and was let go after identifying herself. In June 2023, civil rights attorney Jill Jefferson, who is suing Lexington, Mississippi, was stopped by the same local police named in the lawsuit after recording them arresting another Black motorist. Her cellphone was seized, and she faced charges, including resisting arrest. Although initially convicted in January, the judge quickly overturned his own guilty verdicts after a “thorough review” of the case.
Ayala, Hill, and Jefferson are not alone. They are also part of a population that’s mostly targeted for traffic stops. In a 2019 report, the Stanford Open Policing Project analyzed nearly 100 million traffic stops since 2015, and found that Black drivers were about “20% more likely to be stopped than white drivers,” based on data from 21 state patrols and 29 municipal police departments.
Why “a few bad apples” excuse ignores the real problem
This experience has not stunted Hill’s aspirations to go into law enforcement after retiring from football. He says he still has “a lot of respect for cops.”
“I want to be able to use this platform to figure out a way to flip this and make it a positive on both ends — on my end, and then also Miami-Dade — so that way we continue to do something positive for the community, because that’s what it’s all about, right? You guys are here to protect us as individuals, and I have a platform, and I want to be able to team up with you guys,” Hill said eagerly during Sunday’s press conference.
“But obviously, you know, everybody has bad apples in every situation,” Hill said.
The bad apples excuse for law enforcement has been repeated by police leaders, unions, and elected officials following examples of police brutality. But with police homicide cases like Nichols and George Floyd, that excuse doesn’t fit the bill anymore because it’s part of a systemic problem.
Even if a police chief is aware of those bad apples in their department, there’s bureaucratic red tape — a collective bargaining agreement between cities and police unions across the country that doesn’t sit well with survivors or victims of police brutality — that prevents officers with evidence of misconduct from getting fired.
“The police could very well want this person to be fired, too — in fact, they probably have a bunch of bad apples within their police department that they would like to invite to other places of employment, but they can’t, and that is due to state law,” said Jacobs, 34, who is raising two young sons in Miami-Dade County.
That is where voters and taxpayers should turn their anger toward when another law enforcement officer is placed on paid leave — into action, he said.
Less than a minute into the traffic stop, Hill was ordered to get out of the car. Torres threatened to break the window before opening and pulling Hill out of the two-door sports car. With the assistance of the first officer, Hill was placed face down onto the concrete with a knee to his back.
As Hill was brought to his feet and walked toward the sidewalk, one of the officers’ body-worn cameras showed bystanders gathering on the sidewalk and rubberneckers. Fellow teammates Calais Campbell, and Jonnu Smith stopped to help but were also threatened with arrest. Campbell was also cuffed by Torres, and told reporters after Sunday’s game that he received a citation.
The police body-worn cameras captured Torres tackling Hill, putting him in a chokehold, and forcing him onto the curve to sit down. Seconds before, Hill was heard informing another officer that he had recently undergone knee surgery. Portions of the stalled George Floyd Justice in Policing Act include policies that, if implemented when passed, would ban chokeholds.
“You need to be upset at your local elected leaders at your state capitol, or you need to be upset about those collective bargaining contracts that are done by local municipalities,” Jacobs told Capital B. “I think it’s really hard for people to understand where to put their anger and how those levers of power work.
“But the issue with a lot of police misconduct is that there is no real individual consequence for that officer,” he said.