Hill: Officer placed on leave should be fired 'immediately'
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is calling for the firing of a Miami-Dade police officer after Hill was detained and handcuffed Sunday following a traffic stop.
The lawyer representing Hill, Julius Collins, released a statement demanding the dismissal of officer Danny Torres, who was placed on administrative leave Sunday.
"Each action that a law enforcement official take(s) is governed by standard operating procedures," Collins' statement read, according to ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques. "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."
The incident occurred near Hard Rock Stadium hours before the Dolphins' Week 1 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hill was released after being detained and was able to play versus Jacksonville. The Miami-Dade Police Department released body-cam footage from the incident Monday.
Hill said after the Dolphins' win that he didn't know why he was detained, adding that officers told him he was stopped for "speeding" and "reckless driving." Police estimated Hill was driving about 60 mph - 20 mph over the speed limit - before being pulled over, per copies of the citations released Tuesday, according to Tom Schad of USA Today.
Hill's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, also called for at least one of the officers to be fired.
"I think the police officers that did that to Tyreek shouldn't be in that position. They should be let go," Rosenhaus said Tuesday. "Look at the guy that just kicked him right there. That guy should be fired. That's out of control."
The legal team representing Torres contacted the Dolphins star earlier this week in an effort to apologize, and Hill declined the request, according to Louis-Jacques.
Hill admitted that he could have handled himself better in the initial moments of the traffic stop before officers handcuffed him and pulled him out of his vehicle. He rolled his window up when officers instructed him to leave it down.
"I will say I could have been better," Hill said, according to the Associated Press. "I could have let down my window in that instant. 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. But 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."
Miami players Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith arrived on the scene shortly after Hill was detained. Campbell was also handcuffed while attempting to defuse the situation.
The Dolphins recently released a statement urging the Miami-Dade Police Department to take "strong action" against the officers involved in the incident.
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