NFL star Tyreek Hill wants officer involved in traffic stop detainment fired

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill wants one of the police officers involved in his arrest on Sunday to be fired.

“We demand the immediate termination of the officer who has been placed on administrative leave,” Hill said in a statement released Tuesday evening through his attorney Julius Collins. “Any action taken by a law enforcement officer [takes] is governed by standard operating procedures. We believe the officer’s use of force was excessive, escalating, and reckless. We demand that the officer be terminated immediately.”

Earlier Tuesday, the Miami-Dade Police Department released the identity of the officer under investigation for the arrest. Danny Torres is in his 27th year on the job. According to a statement from the department, “Torres will remain on administrative duties as the Internal Affairs investigation continues. We will provide more information as it becomes available, pending the outcome of the investigation.”

The officer’s attorneys released a statement asking for his client to be reinstated immediately. The attorneys also said they support calls for a review of the incident by Miami-Dade Police Department Director Stephanie Daniels. Torres will not comment on the matter until the investigation is complete, the statement said.

Hill was cited for reckless driving and driving without a license after being pulled over near Hard Rock Stadium just before Sunday’s game, in which Hill scored a touchdown to give the Jacksonville Jaguars a 20-17 victory.

Body camera footage released Monday night shows a traffic stop hours before Miami’s season opener escalated quickly after Hill rolled up his car window.

Hill rolled down the driver’s window and gave his driver’s license to an officer who had knocked on the window. Hill then repeatedly told the officer to stop knocking before rolling the darkly tinted window back up. After a conversation about the window, bodycam video shows an officer pulling Hill out of the car by the arm and head, then forcing him face-first to the ground. Officers handcuffed Hill, and one of them pressed a knee into the middle of his back.

Other Dolphins members said they were affected by the incident.

“It’s hard for me not to feel upset the more I think about it,” said Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, speaking Monday before the footage was released. “I think the thing that [messes] “What makes me, honestly, very honest, is that I know that I don’t know exactly… know what that feels like.”

McDaniel, who is of mixed race, says his life experience has made him “aware” of conversations about race, while he has never been in a similar situation as Hill.

Many Miami players were confused when they saw Hill’s teammate, Calais Campbell, in handcuffs. Campbell, a highly touted defensive tackle who was just entering his 17th NFL season, stopped to help when he saw Hill in handcuffs, but was also briefly handcuffed. Hill and Campbell were eventually released and allowed into the stadium.

“If I’m Calais Campbell and I’m 38 years old and you go to work, whatever personal innocence you have about — you’re a giant, strong, just a wonderful man who’s done well in every way, shape, and size. There’s just elements to it that are very triggering,” McDaniel said.

Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who is Black, also called the video footage harrowing and a reflection of his own life.

“It’s unfortunate in this day and age,” Weaver said, “when I had two boys — my wife is Mexican-American — and both times they were born and light-skinned, there was almost a sense of relief that they would avoid some of the same issues that I’ve dealt with my whole life.”

Hill is one of the NFL’s top receivers, having been named to the Pro Bowl every season since entering the league in 2016. He led the league in receiving last season with a career-high 1,799 yards. He won the Super Bowl with his previous team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in February 2020. He was traded to the Dolphins in March 2022 and signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension, making him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.

Sunday’s incident wasn’t Hill’s first run-in with Miami-Dade police. Last offseason, Hill was investigated by the department for assault after it was reported he got into an altercation with a marina worker, which apparently ended in Hill punching the worker. Hill and the man later settled their dispute.