Tyreek Hill admits some regrets but calls for officer who restrained him to be fired

By Denise Royal, Carlos Suarez and Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill admitted some regrets about his actions during his pre-game detainment on Sunday but called for the officer who restrained him to be taken off the force.

“Gone. Gone. Gone. He gotta go, man,” Hill said Wednesday in a news conference. “In that instance right there, not only did he treat me bad, he also treated my teammates with disrespect, you know? He had some crazy words towards them, and they didn’t even do nothing. Like, what did they do to you? They were just walking on the sidewalk.”

Still, he expressed regret over his own actions, in particular his refusal to roll his window down when directed to do so by an officer.

“I will say I could have been better. I could have let down my window in that instance. But the thing about me is, I don’t want attention, I don’t want to be – cameras out, phones on you, in that moment,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m human, I’ve got to follow rules, I’ve got to do what everyone else would do. Now, does that give them the right to literally beat the dog out of me? Absolutely not. But at the end of the day, I wish I could go back and do things a bit differently.”

The comments came days after Hill, a wide receiver for the Dolphins, was detained by police before the NFL team’s first game of the season. Video of Hill’s detention, as well as tense police interactions with two other Dolphins players at the scene, has led to a public back-and-forth between the NFL team and local police and has renewed the debate over how law enforcement handles traffic stops and interacts with members of the public.

Hill, who also spoke to CNN on Monday night, said Wednesday he thought he was in a movie when he was being detained and said he was choked, pinched and kicked.

“I’m just glad to be here so I can just tell this story with y’all because this is truly shocking to me,” he said.

Watching the body-camera footage of himself was “shell-shocking,” he added.

“It’s really crazy to know that you have officers in this world that would literally do that with bodycams on. It’s sad, it’s really sad,” he said. “What would they do if they didn’t have bodycams?”

Yet he said “I still love cops” and said there were lessons for everyone in the video.

“In football, how we get better from things is we watch the tape and we get better from it. In this instance, we should do the same,” he said. “I think this can be a learning tool for everybody.”

Attorney and agent have also called for officer’s firing

Danny Torres, a 27-year-veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department, was identified as the officer who was placed on administrative duties after the incident, the department announced Tuesday.

In the body-camera footage, the officer who is wearing a shirt with long black sleeves and has tattoos on his hands identifies himself as Danny Torres.

Torres is the officer at the center of most of the action during the incident. He opened Hill’s car door, pulled him out of the car, and restrained him face-down on the ground. Once Hill stood up, Torres put his arm around him and pulled him down to the sidewalk despite Hill’s plea that he just had surgery on his knee. The officer mockingly said to Hill, “Did you have surgery on your ears when we told you to put your window down?” Torres then yelled at both Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith and defensive lineman Calais Campbell to leave the scene and put Campbell in handcuffs.

Earlier Wednesday, Hill’s attorney called for the immediate firing of the officer.

“Each action that a law enforcement official (takes) is governed by standard operating procedures,” attorney Julius Collins said in a letter shared with CNN. “We are of the opinion that the officer’s use of force was excessive, escalating, and reckless. We are demanding that the officer be terminated effective immediately.”

In particular, Hill’s attorney accused Miami-Dade Police Officer Danny Torres of at least twice putting his hands “on or around Mr. Hill’s neck.”

After Hill was pulled from his vehicle, the officer forcefully put Hill’s face down on the pavement, placed his knee on Hill’s back and put his hand around the back of Hill’s neck, the attorney said.

Second, while trying to get a handcuffed Hill to sit down on the sidewalk, the officer put his hands “on or around” Hill’s neck and forced him to the ground, ignoring Hill’s concerns that he had just had knee surgery, the attorney said.

Finally, the attorney connected Hill’s detainment to broader concerns about how police interact with Black people.

“The events that occurred on Sunday, September 8, 2024, are just a reminder of the realities of the many injustices that people of Black and minority communities face at the hands of law enforcement. While we are in no way accusing the officer of being racist, we are accusing the customs and practices of law enforcement from a historical standpoint of being discriminatory and oppressive to black and minority communities,” Collins wrote.

In an appearance on “The Dan Le Batard Show” on Tuesday, Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhaus echoed Collins’ sentiment, calling on the officers involved to be removed from their jobs.

MDPD Director Stephanie V. Daniels said she initiated an internal investigation into the incident.

“I’m committed to transparency and accountability to the community with any situation involving my officers,” Daniels said.

Torres’ attorneys called the decision to sideline him “premature” and called for him to be “immediately reinstated.” Torres will not comment until after the investigation, attorneys Ignacio Alvarez and Israel Reyes said in a statement.

The local police union has also defended the actions of the officers involved and accused Hill of being “uncooperative.”

Hill was ultimately cited for careless driving and a seatbelt violation, according to police. The citations note his vehicle had a “visual estimation 60 mph.”

Hill was released in time for the Dolphins’ 1 p.m. game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The eight-time Pro Bowler then scored a stellar 80-yard touchdown – and celebrated by putting his hands behind his back with his wrists together in a cheeky nod to the pregame incident.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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