Hill, a star wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, was driving to Hard Rock Stadium when the police stopped him and the soon-to-be viral incident occurred. Hill was arrested during this traffic stop, released soon after, and played in the game that day.
Body-cam footage released by the Miami-Dade Police Department showed that the incident quickly escalated which led to Hill being forcefully removed from his car, pinned to the ground, and handcuffed by officers.
In response to uproar as a result of the incident, James Reyes Miami-Dade county chief of public safety released a statement.
In the statement, Reyes asserted that, “The actions displayed on video clearly do not meet the standard we expect from law enforcement, and are deeply concerning.”
“I am committed to ensuring there is accountability for any officer misconduct identified in the course of the investigation, and we will continue to keep the community informed,” Reyes continued.
The police department has refrained from further comments while they complete their investigation, and the officer has been placed on administrative leave.
Upon seeing the footage, many Howard University students were not surprised.
Sophomore Seattle native Camille Craft shared her lack of amazement.
“I think it’s a thing that we’re already normalized to. I think the difference with that is [it’s] just an NFL star. That’s the reason why we heard about it. If it was not him [Hill] we probably wouldn’t even have heard about it until later or until it wasn’t even like a factor anymore,” said Craft.
Craft believes this is something “we see all the time” and that the Black community is becoming “normalized each day it happens.”
Leighton Thompson, a junior, said he was not necessarily surprised this happened in America but was really surprised that they were “stupid enough to do it to a popular Black person.”
He described feeling anger about the video.
“[I wish] these situations went somewhere, and it shouldn’t be to where he gets off with it and nothing happens, but it does happen like that,” Thompson said. “We have multiple scenarios with that type of stuff happening and there’s no resolution.”
James Brown III, a freshman from Georgia, described feeling “shocked” initially after watching the footage.
“You see players get pulled over all the time but for them to handle him like that and in that kind of manner was crazy,” Brown said.
He also touched on how it made him feel as a Black man.
“Being a Black man, I just feel sad, but it’s common nowadays. I just feel like we just have to not accept it but we have to move forward and handle it appropriately and not retaliate how they want us to retaliate,” Brown said.
Madison Spann, a freshman at Howard, had similar sentiments.
“I was first like—angry because it’s an everyday thing for Black men,” Spann said.
Spann then detailed the effect of seeing these incidents consistently, “I’m used to seeing stuff like this on social media because Black men are put in a place where they are threatened in social environments and constantly being oppressed in everyday interaction.”
The star wide receiver answered questions regarding his arrest during a press conference. At the podium, Hill called for the dismissal of the officer that he claims “pinched his neck” in an attempt to antagonize him.
“He gotta go man,” Hill said. “Because, in that instance right there, not only did he treat me bad. He also treated my teammates with disrespect. He had some crazy words toward them, and they ain’t even do nothing. Like, what did they do to you? They were just walking on the sidewalk. He gotta go man.”
While the situation was a unexpected for Hill, he was still able to play in the game that day and had a special touchdown celebration.
Copy edited by Camiryn Stepteau
