Miami Dolphins star receiver Tyreek Hill made his first in-person public comments calling for the Miami-Dade police officer who handcuffed him on Sunday to be fired.
Wednesday, Hill told reporters at a news conference that officer Danny Torres “gotta go,” as shared by NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe
Torres was seen on body-cam footage aggressively detaining Hill for a traffic violation ahead of the Miami’s first game.
“Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone,” Hill said Wednesday. “He gotta go. In that instance right there, not only did he treat me bad, he treated my teammates with disrespect.”
Hill’s comments come just a day after ESPN reported his attorney, Julius Collins, released a statement on his behalf formally calling for the “immediate termination” of the “escalating officer.” Torres was placed on administrative leave by Miami-Dade police.
Hill was cited on Sunday for speeding at a “visual estimation of 60 mph” per ESPN’s Jeff Darlington who acquired a copy of the citation.
The Miami police union claimed in a statement Monday that Hill was “uncooperative” and “initiated this unfortunate incident” with officers.
Hill admitted Wednesday that he could’ve handled the situation better but contested it didn’t give officers the right to “beat the dog out of me.”
“It’s shell-shocking,” Hill continued. “It’s crazy to know that officers would do that with the body cams on. What would they do if they didn’t have body cams on?”
The Dolphins released a statement on Monday backing Hill and calling on the Miami-Dade Police Department to take “swift and strong action against the officers who engaged in such despicable behavior.”
Chief of Police for Miami Police, separate from Miami-Dade Police, released his own statement Tuesday calling the incident “hard to watch” and that he hopes both parties can “move forward” and learn from it.
Hill said Wednesday he was optimistic about his future relationship with police.
“This could be a learning tool for everyone,” he said. “Civilians, police… we hold ourself accountable and get better.”
Hill’s teammates Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith were also involved in the incident Sunday, with Campbell also being detained at one point. Neither has expressly joined Hill in calling for Torres’ firing yet.
