Arrest of Tyreek Hill: Hill, Calais Campbell and the police union describe the incident before Sunday’s game

“It is both upsetting and heartbreaking to see the very people we trust to protect our community use such unnecessary violence and hostility toward these players, but it is also a reminder that not every situation like this ends peacefully, and we are grateful that this one did,” they said in part. “‘What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill?’ is a question that will have a resounding impact. … We will stand by Tyreek and our players as they seek to use their platform and this situation to make a positive impact on our community.”

“Mr. Hill’s legal team is exploring all legal remedies available to Mr. Hill as we believe the officers’ actions on September 8, 2024 were excessive,” the statement said. “As Mr. Hill values ​​his ‘celebrity’ status, it is not lost on him that so many others in similar situations have suffered a different fate and how fortunate everyone involved was to be able to move on from this matter.”

“To be clear, the traffic stop of Mr. Hill by Miami Dade Police Department officers began as a traffic violation but was then escalated after Mr. Hill showed officers his driver’s license and then rolled his window back up. One of the officers knocked on Mr. Hill’s driver’s window and advised Mr. Hill to keep the windows closed or he would remove him from the car.

“Mr. Hill had rolled down his window and this officer then demanded that he exit the vehicle, despite Mr. Hill complying with the officer’s request to roll down his window. Immediately afterward, another officer aggressively approached Mr. Hill’s vehicle and said something to the effect of, ‘If we have to break that damn window, we will.’ Mr. Hill continued to roll down his window each time he was instructed to do so by the demanding officers.”

“There was an incident prior to yesterday’s Dolphins game where Tyreek Hill was handcuffed and released. First of all, to be clear, he was never arrested. He was briefly detained for safety reasons after driving in a manner that placed himself and others in grave danger.

“After being stopped, Mr. Hill did not immediately cooperate with officers on scene, who handcuffed Mr. Hill in accordance with protocol and for his immediate safety. Mr. Hill, still not cooperating, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore returned to the ground.”

“After the situation was resolved within a matter of minutes, Mr. Hill received two tickets and was allowed to leave,” Stahl’s statement continued. … “While we are confident in the actions that led to Mr. Hill’s stop, as with any investigation, we will wait until all of the facts come to light, along with any explanation Mr. Hill may have for his actions that precipitated this unfortunate incident.”

“As part of our commitment to transparency and maintaining the public trust, we are releasing the body-worn camera (BWC) footage related to the recent Tyreek Hill incident. While standard protocol is to release bodycam footage after the internal review is complete, the available bodycam footage – totaling 105 minutes and 33 seconds – will be released the day after the incident to underscore the department’s commitment to keeping the public informed.

“The department is committed to conducting a thorough and objective investigation into this matter, and we will continue to keep the public informed of the outcome of this process.”

“It’s hard,” Hill said. “I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of tricky when you do that. What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? God knows what those guys would have done. I just wanted to make sure I did what my uncle always told me to do when I’m in that situation – put my hands on the wheel and just listen.”

“I was like, ‘What’s going on, is someone in an accident?'” Campbell said. “… I was like, ‘Stop, that’s Tyreek.’ So I pull over and sit there and watch for a while until I see the cops using unnecessary force. So I get out and I’m like, ‘Hey, stop. That’s Tyreek Hill. That’s my friend. What’s going on here?'”

“I stayed where he told me not to stand,” Campbell continued. “After a while, he told me I had to leave. I told him I wasn’t going anywhere. I wanted to be there to support my teammate.”

“He arrested me,” Campbell continued. “I was not cited. He arrested me, but basically just detained me. He handcuffed me – for about five minutes. He took them off me and told me I was now being detained and released, and that was all.”

“Tyreek was in handcuffs for about 20 minutes, probably longer. The security team came and stopped everything. Other officers came – I think some supervisors came. And everything worked out. But it was a crazy situation. It wasn’t necessary.”

“When I got out of the car and put my hands up, I walked up to them and said, ‘Hey, that’s my friend over there, what’s going on?'” Campbell said. “The officer who had started everything and was being overly aggressive walked up to me. I felt like that was the best thing that could have happened. It allowed Tyreek and the officers to calm down.”

“He’s the one who stirred things up, extremely over the top,” Campbell said. “I thought to myself, ‘The other cops are all pretty cool, laid back. He’s the one you need to watch out for.’ It was definitely one guy.”

“It’s hard not to get angrier and angrier the more I think about it,” McDaniel told reporters. … “What’s killing me, to be quite frank, is knowing that I don’t know exactly – I don’t know what that feels like. …

“Two things have come out of necessity. I’m super proud that my teammates are teammates. And I’m super proud that our guys have understood the social responsibility of a platform and intend to live up to it.”