Rantz: Tyreek Hill uses old playbook to claim racism, but he was the bad guy, not the cops

Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill finds himself at the center of a police controversy after his brief pre-game detainment. It’s yet another example of the Left’s double standards when it comes to law enforcement — demonizing the cops while turning a blind eye to the so-called “victim” who, in this case, is anything but.

Make no mistake, Hill is solely responsible for the incident, and no amount of spin or revisionist history can shift that blame.

When officers pulled Hill over for a traffic violation, things escalated quickly when Hill, frustrated that officers had the audacity to apply the law to his behavior, rolled his tinted window up after providing his ID. The cops, not taking kindly to the lack of cooperation, demanded he roll it back down, but Hill resisted.

“Hey, don’t knock on my window like that,” Hill repeated to the officers, talking to them as he might talk to a low-level Dolphins staffer in the locker room.

“Give me my ticket bro so I can go, I’m going to be late. Do what you got to do,” Hill said before rolling up the window again, forcing the officer to again knock on the window.

“Hey! Keep your window down,” the officer said.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Hill replied.

“Keep your window down or I’m gonna get you out of the car,” the officer warned.

Hill didn’t want to comply. Officers then removed him from his car, placed him on the ground and put him in handcuffs. He later claimed he was a victim of “being black in America.” On the contrary, he wasn’t a victim. He just wasn’t offered the privileges he’s used to as a celebrity.

Is Tyreek Hill a victim of racist policing during traffic stop?

We’re supposed to pretend Hill is the victim of racist policing. He’s not. The officers were majority Hispanic, with one officer even responding to Hill’s rhetoric, “We’re dark too, bro. We’re people of color.”

Hill is the bad guy. But that won’t stop him and others from turning this into a racial incident.

“The reality of it is, it’s the truth. If I wasn’t Tyreek Hill, worst-case scenario, we would’ve had a different article. ‘Tyreek Hill got shot in front of Hard Rock Stadium,’ that’s worst-case scenario,” Hill told CNN. “It’s crazy that me and my family had to go through this.”

Hill went on to lie, perhaps not realizing full body cam footage would be released so quickly: “I was following rules. I didn’t want to create a scene at all. I just really wanted to get the ticket and then just go on about my way.”

The reaction from many on the Left has been predictable.

Racist columnist Jemele Hill, who’s never met a cop she wasn’t willing to bash, defended the Dolphins star. She said that “having an attitude with the police or being irritated is not an excuse for the police to drag you from your car.” The Guardian contributor Etan Thomas, a former NBA player turned anti-police activist, foolishly claimed that “Hill learned he isn’t allowed to do what white people do.” (Pro-tip to white people: If you need reminding, no, Thomas doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about and you should roll down your windows and comply with lawful orders.)

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Tyreek Hill isn’t a victim or hero. He’s a villain.

Hill, ever the martyr in his own mind, demanded we see a “change” in policing. On CNN, he proclaimed, “We tried it all. We protested. We took a knee. What’s next? We’re brainstorming on how we can be a part of this change.”

No need for a brainstorming session, Tyreek. Here’s a simple solution: Stop ignoring lawful orders from police who have every right to pull you over and issue a citation when you’re caught breaking the law. And yes, this applies to everyone, regardless of race, gender, religion or any other identity the Left might try to wrap in a victimhood narrative.

Hill claimed he rolled up his windows because people might recognize him and snap photos of him getting a ticket. Maybe so. But believe it or not, not everyone knows who you are, Tyreek. And cops aren’t exactly thrilled about approaching a car with a guy hiding behind tinted windows. What Hill fails to grasp — likely due to his inflated ego — is that he was the actual threat. A fact his pregnant girlfriend probably understood all too well when he punched and choked her back in 2015.

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Police must do what’s in everyone’s best interest, not kowtow to an entitled NFL star

When officers pull someone over, they have no idea who is inside or what they’re capable of doing. We’re all taught that when pulled over, our hands should be in plain sight on the steering wheel, only moving them when told because we’re a possible threat to the officer. At any moment, we could pull a gun that the officer doesn’t know about. But they do have to assume someone is armed; not doing so means they put themselves, their partners, and the public in harm’s way.

If any cop happened to know who Hill was after they pulled him over, they’d be right to wonder what he’s capable of. Hill is a violent person, not just pleading guilty to assaulting his pregnant girlfriend but, last year, found himself investigated for an alleged attack against a charter employee at Haulover Marina on Father’s Day

Though Etan Thomas claims otherwise, no, white people can’t get away with keeping their tinted windows rolled up after being asked numerous times to roll them down. I learned this lesson from a cop when I was 20 years old. He explained to me what goes through the mind of a cop during a traffic stop. If folks like Thomas — or Hill — spent time talking to cops rather than demonizing them, they’d understand.

This isn’t a story about racist policing. It’s about a pretentious, privileged NFL star who believes he can dictate standard procedures during a traffic stop. It’s also about a media and activist class that would be singing a very different tune if a white guy had been pulled over and acted the way Hill did.

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