George Floyd's lawyer joins Tyreek Hill's legal team to combat police misconduct

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill assembled a team of high-profile lawyers to help investigate police misconduct across the country.

Video footage of Hill, 30, being treated roughly by Miami police officers last month went viral. Officer Danny Torres, who was filmed on police bodycam footage forcibly removing Hill from his McLaren and placing him on the ground, remains on administrative leave due to the incident.

While Hill previously admitted that he could have handled the incident better, he is now also using his experience to address police misconduct across the country.

Hill's high-profile legal team includes Atlanta-based attorney Julius B. Collins, former federal prosecutor Jeffrey A. Neiman of Fort Lauderdale, Stephen B. Kelly, Jr. of Rolle & Kelly in Jacksonville and civil rights attorney Devon M. Jacob. who has been involved in high-profile cases, including representing George Floyd's family after he was murdered by police in Minneapolis in 2020.

“Tyreek is demanding that Congress finally pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,” Jacob said Newsweek on Monday.

The bill would increase accountability for law enforcement misconduct and make it easier for the federal government to successfully prosecute cases of police misconduct.

Advocates say it would help end racial and religious profiling and federally ban the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants that took the lives of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Eric Garner.

“Unfortunately, after the death of George Floyd, people have all but forgotten the need for reform,” Jacob said. “This is a bipartisan bill that has already been negotiated and contains all the necessary reforms or at least a good start, and the Republican Congress continues to fail to pass the bill, so it is time for us to do so.”

In March 2021, the House of Representatives passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act but received no Republican support. It did not make it to the Senate and failed after bipartisan negotiations in September 2021.

However, Jacob said, details of what steps Hill will take to achieve his goal have yet to be determined Newsweek“Tyreek recognizes that he has a strong voice and that he can attract the attention needed to make this happen.”

“Tyreek's personal case must be resolved before we can decide how best to address the national problem,” he added.

Jacob spent more than a decade in emergency services as a 911 operator, firefighter and police officer. He is also a former Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In his conversation with NewsweekJacob also noted Torres' Miami-Dade Police Department personnel file, which shows he has been suspended six times. While the personnel file does not provide exact details of each of these suspensions, Torres' suspensions ranged from five to 20 days.

“In any other profession, such an employee would no longer work for the employer,” said Jacob. “In a police department where police officers, who are these employees, carry weapons and have the authority to arrest people and use force against people, it is absolutely necessary that your employees are prepared to follow their training, their policies, etc. to comply with the law .”

“So Officer Torres has to go,” Jacob said.

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