MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The body camera video of Tyreek Hill’s traffic stop that was released on Monday is now making national headlines. Police have now publicly identified one of the officers involved.
The shocking video has gone viral and put Miami-Dade County in the spotlight.
Hill was detained following a traffic stop hours before Sunday’s Miami Dolphins season opener.
In the video, Hill is physically removed from his car before being pinned to the ground and handcuffed by officers.
Miami-Dade County commissioners are speaking out after looking at the body worn camera.
“When you look at it frame by frame, when you look at the interactions between Tyreek and the officers, because there are multiple of them, there are times in which both parties one or the other seem out of hand,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Keon Hardemon. “From the very beginning, officers asked him to lower down his window, he would not do it. Officers said to him, if you don’t lower your window, I’m going to have to ask you to step out of this vehicle and he would not lower down the window, so I think the officers handled that circumstance from that point like they would handle any other person.”
Then Hill is moved over to the sidewalk, where he was having a hard time sitting down, telling officers he recently had knee surgery.
“When the officer forces him down, where he’s trying to explain to him I had knee surgery, I think he may have stepped across the line there,” said Hardemon.
Local police union president Steadman Stahl said Hill was driving in a manner where he put himself and others in great risk of danger, saying he wasn’t cooperative with officers.
Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie Daniels said she released the video to be transparent. She has initiated an internal affairs investigation and one of the officers involved in the incident, now identified as Danny Torres, who has been with the department for 27 years, was placed on administrative duties as the investigation continues.
“There’s no doubt that the perception, at least the visual one, is not good one for Miami-Dade County, and we need to deal with it,” said County Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez.
The attorney representing Torres released a statement saying the decision to place their client on leave was premature, adding, “We call for our client’s immediate reinstatement, and a complete, thorough, and objective investigation as Director Daniels has also advocated. Our client will not comment until this investigation is concluded and the facts are fully revealed.”