After watching body-cam footage of police forcefully dragging Tyreek Hill from his car, Stephen A. Smith questioned the NFL star’s role in escalating the incident.
Sunday morning, Smith criticized the Miami-Dade police officers involved in detaining Hill, saying, “this ain’t going away.” And after the police department released body-cam footage of the incident, it hasn’t gone away. While Smith maintained the officers used excessive force, he also questioned Hill’s role in escalating the situation Tuesday morning on First Take .
“When it comes to Tyreek Hill, we also can’t let him completely off the hook based on the statement that was made by the police department in Florida,” Smith said. “They said quote, unquote ‘He was uncooperative.’ We have a responsibility on this show and any kind of platform that we have to make sure we’re doing what we can to save lives. To make sure that we’re doing what we can to ensure that somehow, someway you get to live another day and fight that battle. We know how wrong they were. The police were excessive, no excuses. They should be ashamed of themselves the way they acted. They just went overboard. Totally true.”
Smith was likely referring to the police union statement which claimed Hill was “uncooperative” and detained for “officer safety” before being “redirected” to the ground. A police union statement is different from a police department statement, with the union expectedly taking the side of the officer they represent. The police department, however, issued a statement confirming one of the involved officers was placed on administrative duties and confirmed they are conducting an investigation.
“Here’s the problem, we all came on the air seeing the initial footage in complete unadulterated support for Tyreek Hill,” Smith continued. “You pull over, they tell you to roll down your window…They pull me over, all my windows are down. My hands are on the steering wheel. That is not what Tyreek Hill did.”
When the police body-cam footage was released, the masses still expressed unadulterated support for Tyreek Hill. The Miami Dolphins wide receiver rolled his window down and handed over his ID while telling the officer “Don’t knock on my window,” before rolling it back up. The officer then repeatedly knocked on the window, demanding it to be rolled back down. Less than 30 seconds later, the situation rapidly escalated with Hill being dragged from his car and placed in handcuffs while being held face down on the ground by several officers.
“What if you weren’t Tyreek Hill?” Smith asked. “What would have happened to you if somebody that wasn’t Tyreek Hill kept the windows rolled up, hesitated to roll it down? Didn’t give the license immediately when they asked for it and then hesitated to get out the car when they told you to get the car. See, we got to be responsible.
“In no way should the officers be excused for what they did…But I also am saying, ‘Yo, Tyreek. Yo, bro. You didn’t deserve that; I’m not implying that you did. But the officers do have the power.’ When they pull up on you, they tell you to roll down that window, they tell you to give your driver’s license, when they tell you to get out of that car, that’s what you gotta do.”
Sure, Hill could have left his window down, allowing everyone driving by to capture a video for social media, and he could have kept from uttering a word to the officer. Doing those things probably would have prevented the situation from escalating to the point it did. But that doesn’t mean Hill should have had to do those things to avoid getting dragged out of his car, handcuffed, and knocked to the ground after he already provided the officer with his license.
The police do have the power. But they should also have the experience, responsibility, and training to refrain from rapidly escalating a situation that never needed to be escalated. It was Hill’s responsibility to provide the officer with his license, it shouldn’t be his responsibility to deescalate the situation.
[ First Take ]
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