ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Tells Tyreek Hill, 'You Gotta' Listen to Police Officers
Saying there is lots of room for blame on both sides, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith scolded Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill and the Miami police for a Sunday incident involving Hill.
On Sunday, Miami-Dade police detained Hill near Hard Rock Stadium. Video that has been released of the incident showed Hill, who is black, being pulled out of his car and handcuffed after he was forced to the ground. The video has reignited the debate over police tactics in traffic stops involving black males, with Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, calling for police to be fired, according to ESPN.
“For me, personally, I believe the police officers that did that to Tyreek shouldn’t be in that position — they should be let go,” Rosenhaus said in a recent interview, later adding, “That was horrendous how they treated him. They didn’t treat him like a human being.”
“When it comes to Tyreek Hill, we also can’t let him completely off the hook based on the statement that was made by the police department.” – Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/JLunSXOANm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 10, 2024
Meanwhile, attorneys Ignacio Alvarez and Israel Reyes, who represent officer Danny Torres, are irked Torres was immediately shunted to administrative duties amid the uproar sparked by the video.
“We call for our client’s immediate reinstatement, and a complete, thorough, and objective investigation, as Director Daniels has also advocated,” the lawyers said in a statement, according to USA Today.
Amid the blame game, Smith pointed fingers in both directions.
“This is the part that is missing. And it has to be said,” Smith said, noting that he believes Miami police were wrong.
“But when it comes to Tyreek Hill, we also can’t let him completely off the hook, based on the statement that was made by the police department in Florida,” Smith said.
“They said quote, unquote, ‘He was uncooperative.’ We have a responsibility on this show, and any kind of platform that we have, to make sure we’re doing what we can to save lives. To make sure that we’re doing what we can to ensure that somehow, someway you get to live another day and fight that battle. We know how wrong they were. The police were excessive, no excuses. They should be ashamed of themselves, the way they acted. They just went overboard. Totally true,” he said.
“Here’s the problem: We all came on the air seeing the initial footage in complete, unadulterated support for Tyreek Hill,” Smith said.
“You pull over, they tell you to roll down your window,” Smith said, noting that when “they pull me over, all my windows are down. My hands are on the steering wheel. That is not what Tyreek Hill did.
“Tyreek Hill had his window up. The officer bangs on, knocks on his window. He didn’t bang on his window, he knocked on his window. You hesitate to pull it down. The first thing you say is, ‘Don’t bang on my window like that,’” Smith said, repeating the phrase.
That was not all Hill did wrong, Smith said.
“He asked you for your driver’s license. You hesitated to give him your driver’s license. You said in the postgame conference, ‘Hey, y’all, what if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill?’ What if you wren’t Tyreek Hill? What would have happened to you if somebody that wasn’t Tyreek Hill kept the windows rolled up, hesitated to roll it down, didn’t give the license immediately when asked for it, and then hesitated to get out of the car when they told you to get out of the car? See, we got to be responsible,” Smith said.
Smith said that matching the police in doing the wrong thing is not the way to handle a situation.
“The point I’m trying to make is this – in no way should the officers be excused for what they did,” he said.
“But I also am saying, ‘Yo, Tyreek, yo, bro, you didn’t deserve that. I’m not implying that you did. But the police officers do have the power. When they pull up on you, and they tell you to roll down that window, and they tell you to give them your driver’s license, and they tell you to get out of that car, that’s what you gotta do,” he said.
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