Tyreek Hill begged ‘don’t leave me’ to his Dolphins teammates as he was being handcuffed by Miami-Dade police prior to Sunday’s Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in South Florida.
As Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell told ESPN’s First Take, Hill’s detainment in Miami Gardens was ‘a crazy situation’ and ‘definitely unnecessary’ due to the physical force police were using on Hill.
Campbell was driving to the game when he noticed one lane of traffic was blocked. When he got out of his vehicle to see the situation, he saw his teammate being taken down by a Miami-Dade officer.
‘Then I see Tyreek in handcuffs, and I’m whoa, that’s a big deal,’ Campbell told Stephen A. Smith & Co. ‘They were being real physical with him, so I got out the car,’ he continued. ‘I don’t know if I have the ability to deescalate this, but I’m gonna try because this is someone I care about, it’s a friend of mine.’
Smith, who would go on to criticize Miami-Dade police for their handling of the situation, asked Campbell to go through the story carefully, detailing the allegations of unnecessary force.
‘They were trying to yank him down to the ground. I saw them kick him, pull him down, put on the cuffs… one officer was pushing on his head. Completely unnecessary.’
Officers ultimately cited for careless driving and a seatbelt violation. Campbell, who was briefly handcuffed for ‘disobeying a direct order’ from an officer, did not receive a citation.
One unnamed officer has been placed on leave as a result of the incident.
‘Of all the officers there, it was really just one guy that was extreme,’ Campbell said. ‘Everybody else seemed there like they were doing what they were supposed to do.
‘One officer was a little bit elevated. He told me I wasn’t listening to him, so he detained me as well. Put me in handcuffs.’
Although he didn’t get in any legal trouble, Campbell disputes the accusation that he disobeyed the officer in question.
‘I’m complying, doing whatever it is he’s telling me to do,’ Campbell said. ‘I just wanted to make sure I was there supporting my teammate, especially as a black man in America, just all the different things that happen with police officers in certain
To calm the officer, Campbell said, he approached him with his hands raised.
‘So I got out, had my hands up like this, approaching, just telling him, ‘hey, I’m a friend of his, I don’t know what’s going on here but I think the situation is definitely unnecessary.’
‘He told me to: ‘Back up! Back up!’
The same officer who Campbell thought was overly aggressive with Hill instructed the veteran defensive lineman to leave the scene because his car was blocking traffic.
Even when the office threatened to tow Campbell’s car, Hill’s teammate refused to leave the scene.
‘This is my friend here,’ Campbell told ESPN. ‘I’m here to support him, I’m not leaving.’
Eventually the officer became frustrated and put Campbell in cuffs before taking down his license information and allowing the 38-year-old to leave.
But Campbell and another teammate, Jonnu Smith, weren’t leaving Hill so quickly.
‘He was telling Jonnu saying: ‘don’t leave me, don’t leave me,’ Campbell said.
In response, both Smith and Campbell told Hill they were there for him and had his back.
In response to Campbell’s on-air testimony, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith blasted the Miami-Dade department’s handling of the situation.
‘I didn’t see what they all did when he was laying face-down on the ground,’ Smith said. ‘You just saw officers surrounding him and putting him in cuffs; but when he was stood up thereafter — with his hands cuffed behind his back — and a second officer came and forcibly sat him down, this is what we’re talking about when we talk about the ease with which dehumanization kicks in when it comes to black men.’
Similarly, Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhaus said his client didn’t deserve to be handcuffed prior to Miami’s home opener on Sunday and predicts the All-Pro receiver will be taking legal action against South Florida police over the incident.
‘What happened today to Tyreek at the stadium is completely unacceptable,’ Drew Rosenhaus told DailyMail.com by email after seeing his client cited for speeding and reckless driving in Miami Gardens on Sunday. ‘Tyreek did not deserve to be treated that way by the police involved. Tyreek’s legal team will be pursuing this matter on Tyreek’s behalf and I’m sure they will consider taking legal action.’
Rosenhaus, who lives in South Florida and got his undergrad degree from the University of Miami, was riding with Hill on Sunday when the Dolphins receiver was flagged by police as he approached the stadium.
The exact details of the incident are still emerging, but onlookers recorded Hill being handcuffed and placed face down on the street by Miami-Dade Police, one of whom has since been placed on leave over the incident.
The South Florida Police Benevolent Association has since issued a statement in defense of the Miami-Dade department’s handling of the situation.
‘Before the Dolphins game yesterday, an incident occurred where Tyreek Hill was placed in handcuffs before being released,’ Steadman Stahl, the president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association said in a statement. ‘First, to be clear, at no time was he ever under arrest. He was briefly detained for officer safety, after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great danger.
‘Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs. Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground,’ Stahl added.
‘Once the situation was sorted out within a few minutes, Mr. Hill was issued two traffic citations and was free to leave.’
