Stephen A. Smith Torches Miami Police on ESPN’s First Take for ‘Dehumanization’ of Tyreek Hill During Traffic Stop

Stephen A. Smith on Monday accused Miami-Dade Police officers of dehumanizing Tyreek Hill when they placed him in handcuffs the day before.

Hours before the Miami Dolphins’ season opener, Hill was pulled over for speeding outside Hard Rock Stadium. During the stop, Hill reportedly got into a verbal altercation with the officers that resulted in him being handcuffed. Dolphins defensive tackle Calais Campbell noticed the scene on his way to the game and stopped to try to de-escalate the situation. He was also placed in handcuffs.

As the news broke Sunday, Smith took to social media to call the officers’ actions “wrong” and “excessive.” On Monday’s episode of First Take, he called it an example of the “dehumanization” of Black men at the hands of police.

“I didn’t see what they all did when he was laying face-down on the ground,” Smith said. “You just saw officers surrounding him and putting him in cuffs; but when he was stood up thereafter — with his hands cuffed behind his back — and a second officer came and forcibly sat him down, this is what we’re talking about when we talk about the ease with which dehumanization kicks in when it comes to black men.

“Why are you doing that? Why was that necessary? He clearly was not a threat at that particular moment in time. Why would you do that? And, to me, that is what the police department in Florida needs to answer for. That is the kind of questions we should be asking. Yes, a verbal altercation. OK, alright. What did he say? Yes, we want to know that. Why’d you stop him to begin with? OK fine. But you know what? Anybody can come up with reasons and rationale for that; but the physicality that was implemented — why? What was that for? Why was that necessary if the man has handcuffs behind his back?”

Watch above via ESPN

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