Tyreek Hill calls for firing of suspended officer

MIAMI — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is calling for the firing of a Miami-Dade police officer following a viral incident Sunday in which Hill was pulled from his vehicle during a traffic stop.

Hill’s attorney, Julius Collins, released a statement on Hill’s behalf Tuesday night demanding the “immediate termination” of the “escalating officer” who was placed on administrative leave as a result of Sunday’s incident.

“Every action taken by a law enforcement officer is governed by standard procedures,” the statement said. “We believe the officer’s use of force was excessive, escalating, and reckless. We are demanding that the officer be terminated immediately.”

The officer, who has since been identified as 27-year veteran Danny Torres, was among several officers on the scene when Hill was pulled over for speeding about three hours before the Dolphins’ season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The police union that works with the Miami-Dade PD released a statement Monday afternoon saying Hill was “uncooperative” with responding officers, leading to an escalation of the situation.

Body camera footage released Monday night shows that Hill, after a brief verbal altercation with the officer who pulled him over, was ordered out of his vehicle. Ultimately, however, Hill was forcibly pulled from his car by Torres and “pushed” to the ground.

Torres then handcuffed Hill while he was kneeling on his back, and forced him back to the ground about a minute later after Hill was ordered to sit on the sidewalk. In their affidavit, Hill and Collins say Hill told officers he had recently undergone knee surgery, but Torres “ignored his statement and continued his escalation in his use of force.”

“The events that transpired on Sunday, September 8, 2024, are merely a reminder of the reality of the many injustices that people from Black and minority communities face at the hands of law enforcement,” the statement said. “While we are in no way accusing the officer of racism, we are accusing law enforcement practices and customs of being historically discriminatory and oppressive to Black and minority communities. We cannot ignore this fact and remain silent on this issue simply because it is a difficult conversation.”

Dolphins players Jonnu Smith and Calais Campbell arrived shortly after Hill was apprehended. Smith was issued a ticket, while Campbell, a former Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner, was briefly detained for allegedly failing to comply with demands.

Attorneys Ignacio Alvarez of ALGO Law Firm and Israel Reyes of The Reyes Law Firm, who represent Torres, released a statement Monday calling for their client’s “immediate reinstatement.” They also called the decision to suspend their client “premature,” though they “fully support” Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie Daniels’ call for a thorough investigation.

Neither Alvarez nor Reyes responded when asked whether their statements were written before or after the bodycam footage of the incident was released on Monday.

“We urge all parties to refrain from making public statements that misrepresent our client’s actions and mislead the public regarding Mr. Hill’s arrest,” Alvarez said in the statement.

Their statement said Torres would not comment until the investigation into the matter is complete. Alvarez and Reyes did not immediately respond to questions about whether Torres had previously faced disciplinary actions, incidents or investigations.

During an appearance Monday on The Dan Le Batard Show, Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, expressed his disgust at the way the agents treated his client.

“For me personally, I believe that the officers that did that to Tyreek should not be in that position — they should be fired,” Rosenhaus said. “Look at the guy that kicked him — that guy should be fired. That’s out of control. The guy that jumped in and put him in a chokehold? There’s no place for a police officer to have a badge that works like that, if Tyreek wasn’t aggressive or violent or fought back in any way.

“It was horrible the way they treated him. They didn’t treat him like a human being.”

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said Tuesday that Hill had gathered a group of teammates to “help change things,” but their ideas likely won’t be implemented until after the team’s game Thursday night against the Buffalo Bills.

Veteran left tackle Terron Armstead, a Dolphins team captain like Hill and Tagovailoa, said the team will be ready for Thursday’s game despite the short week and potential distractions.

“I think that’s the beauty of the sport. You get to escape from the problems of the real world for that time,” he said. “I think there’s no better place in the world for Tyreek to have that experience than in a locker room and a football game. That’s the beauty of the sport, that you get that time to escape and enter a world that for us is kind of a fantasy.”