Jemele Hill, a former ESPN anchor and current editor at The Atlantic, suggested a connection to Donald Trump following the arrest of Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill on Sunday.
The NFL player was detained by Miami-Dade police during a traffic stop before the Dolphins played the Jacksonville Jaguars. Video captured Hill on the ground in an intense moment with police officers, handcuffed. One officer was later assigned to “administrative duties.”
The columnist fired off a theory about X’s imprisonment.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Jemele Hill on the red carpet at ESPN The Party event in Houston, Texas on February 3, 2017. (Kirby Lee-USA Today Sports)
“A reminder that Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins, is a huge supporter of Donald Trump – the same Trump who supports granting ALL cops immunity from prosecution,” Hill wrote. “Do with that what you will.”
Ross hosted a fundraiser for Trump in 2019 that sparked heated backlash against some of the companies he had invested in, such as Equinox and SoulCycle.
Ross also founded the RISE program, a “national nonprofit organization that educates and empowers the sports community to eliminate racial discrimination, advocate for social justice and improve race relations,” the website states. He left the board in 2022 and was named a board member emeritus.
In April, Trump promised to provide comprehensive protection to police officers following the death of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller. Trump promised to “restore law and order” and to “defund” and “protect” law enforcement.
At the National Association of Black Journalists conference in July, Trump was again asked about his stance on the case of Sonya Massey, who was killed in an incident with police officers in Illinois.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reacts after the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on September 8, 2024. (Sam Navarro-Images)
According to Fox 32 Chicago, he said he would help a person who “made an innocent mistake.”
“If I or a group of people felt that someone was being wrongfully prosecuted because the person had done a good job, perhaps in a crime, or because they had made a mistake, an innocent mistake… I would want to help that person.
Officers’ handling of Tyreek Hill detention “completely unacceptable,” says Agent Drew Rosenhaus
“Sometimes you have less than a second to make a life-or-death decision, and sometimes very bad decisions are made. They’re not made from an evil perspective, they’re made from the perspective that they made a mistake.”
There was no evidence that Trump and Ross were involved in the imprisonment of Tyreek Hill.
The South Florida Police Benevolent Association defended the officers involved in the incident. Police union president Steadman Stahl said Hill was arrested for “officer safety reasons after driving in a manner that placed himself and others in grave danger.”
“After being stopped, Mr. Hill did not immediately cooperate with the police officers on the scene. He was handcuffed as per protocol and for their immediate safety,” the statement said. “Mr. Hill, still not cooperating, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore returned to the ground.”
Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill speaks during a postgame press conference Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Stahl said Hill had received two traffic tickets and urged anyone dealing with police to “obey the lawful orders of the police first and then complain.”
He added: “While we are confident in the actions that led to Mr Hill’s arrest, as with any investigation we will wait until all the facts come to light and Mr Hill has any explanation for his actions that led to this unfortunate incident.”
Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhaus called the incident “completely unacceptable” in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“What happened to Tyreek at the stadium today is completely unacceptable,” he said. “Tyreek did not deserve to be treated in this way by the police involved. Tyreek’s legal team will pursue the matter on Tyreek’s behalf and I am sure they will consider legal action.”
The wide receiver insisted that he had “no idea” why the police handcuffed him.
“I wasn’t being disrespectful because my mom didn’t raise me that way,” Hill said. “I didn’t curse. I didn’t do any of that. Like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out, man.”
Dolphins fans show their support for wide receiver Tyreek Hill during the Jacksonville Jaguars game on Sunday, September 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Hill said he wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t been an NFL player.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of tricky when you do that,” he added. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? God knows what that guy or those guys would have done. I just made sure I did what my uncle always told me when I’m in that situation: ‘Just listen, put your hands on the wheel and just listen.'”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital Sports coverage on X and subscribe the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
