Traffic stop involving NFL star Tyreek Hill escalates

Tyreek Hill admitted that he was driving recklessly and too fast. The famous American football player was driving in Miami on Sunday when he was stopped by police. But according to the athlete, that in no way justifies what happened after the stop. A bodycam video released by the police themselves shows Hill closing his car window again after he had given the officers his papers for inspection. A police officer then began to ask him to open the window.

Later, he lost patience. He brutally dragged the NFL player out of the driver’s seat and, together with his colleagues, pushed him to the ground. They handcuffed him and ordered him to sit on the sidewalk next to the road. Hill’s comments that this was painful because of a recent knee operation were not taken seriously. “You’re going to have ear surgery soon,” said a police officer as he pushed him to the ground again.

Systemic racism

The case has once again sparked accusations of systemic racism against the US police. Critics say he was treated so harshly because of the color of his skin. The football player himself wonders whether something worse would have happened to a less prominent black man. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill?” God knows what those guys would have done,” said the 30-year-old.

In fact, black people in the USA are almost three times more likely to be killed by the police than white people. According to the New York Times, the head of the Miami-Dade Police Department, Stephanie Daniels, announced an investigation into the matter. According to other media reports, one of the police officers involved has since been suspended. The Dolphins (Hills football team) accused the police officers involved of confusing their “commitment” with “misplaced power”.