Grim history of police brutality tells us Tyreek Hill was lucky to walk away unscathed
CBC
I know we needle Tyreek Hill often in this column. He's once-in-a-generation, both as an athlete and a glutton for publicity, a future hall-of-famer who embellishes towering achievements with tall tales, just because he likes the attention. If it's an act, it's tough to tell where the character ends and the Real Tyreek Hill begins, and, for me, it's wearing threadbare.
Still, I have to credit Hill, the Miami Dolphins' all-pro receiver, as the only person directly involved in his Sunday morning run-in with Miami-Dade police who tried to de-escalate the showdown.
The body-cam footage is public now, and it shows Hill face-down on the pavement a few hundred metres from Hard Rock Stadium, handcuffed and surrounded by a quartet of cops, one of whom briefly presses his knee into Hill's spine. I don't know if an image of George Floyd flashed across Hill's mind, but if I were in his position it would have entered mine.
Seconds later the officers yank him to his feet and move him from the road to the sidewalk. Moments after that, one of the officers wraps an arm around Hill's neck. I don't know if Hill heard Eric Garner saying, "I Can't Breathe" in his mind's ear, but I could see the parallels.
From there, in the police department's re-telling, the officer "redirected" Hill to the ground. If you watched the film, you know "dragging" is a more accurate term.
WATCH | Bodycam footage of Tyreek Hill traffic stop reignites questions of police brutality:
Many of us would panic. Hill tried to lower the temperature while Officer Redirect barked in his ear.
"Chill, bruh," he said from a seated position.
The most aggressive officer, 27-year veteran Danny Torres, has been placed on administrative leave; Hill, his agent, and his lawyer want him fired.
Hill's teammates have defended him in public. Calais Campbell risked his own safety to check on Hill at the scene. The Dolphins issued a statement calling the officers' actions "despicable."
Still, I have questions.
Does the pushback against police brutality stop here?
Are any countermoves coming from the NFL? Didn't the league partner with Jay-Z in 2019 to address social justice issues like this?
And are we going to treat Sunday's fiasco as isolated, or as part of a systemic issue with reverberations in a league that's 70 per cent Black?
