Cop Who Cuffed Tyreek Hill Is a Motorcycle Club Member and a DJ

The Miami-Dade police officer who hauled Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill out of his sports car and took him facedown to the pavement on Sunday morning has been identified as Danny Torres.

In body-cam footage the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD released late on Monday, Torres is recognizable as the tattooed officer wearing long black compression sleeves beneath his short-sleeved uniform shirt.

On Tuesday, the MDPD identified Torres, a 27-year veteran of the department, as the officer placed on administrative leave while the internal investigation unfolds.

Gunfighters Motorcycle Club, a DJ Side Gig, and a Serious Injury

A review of Torres' internet presence, including his personal Facebook page, reveals that the veteran motorcycle cop is an avid biker and DJs on the side under the name DJ DNO.

Photos from Torres' Threads account indicate that he has worked as a DJ for the police department.

Though Torres revised his Facebook profile even as this post went live, it remains filled with photos of Torres and motorcycles, many of them in connection with the Florida chapter of a group called the Gunfighters Motorcycle Club.

In one photo, shot in black and white, Torres wears a leather vest with patches identifying him as "Peacemaker," "Dano," and "President."

On its website, Gunfighters states that it was established on December 10, 2005, and describes the club as "a national and International law enforcement motorcycle club. Our membership consists of active and retired law enforcement officers who are in good standing with their respective agencies and/or have retired honorably.

"We abide by the laws set forth by the United States Constitution and the laws of our international chapters in which we reside," the description continues. "We are not 1%ers, nor are we a territorial organization. We wear our bottom rockers to signify the State/Country we call home."

According to the website, the club's Florida "Peacemaker" chapter was founded on January 1, 2018.
While on duty in November 2020, Torres was involved in a traffic accident that left him critically injured and in a coma for a month, according to a GoFundMe page that raised nearly $25,000 and posts from the South Florida Police Benevolent Association (SFBA), the union that represents the MDPD.

Torres is listed as a representative of the SFBA.

A Problematic Traffic Stop and Its Aftermath

Body-cam footage shows Torres turn aggressive when Hill failed to comply with a fellow officer's demands to keep his window rolled down during the traffic stop outside Hard Rock Stadium. Torres then stepped in and pulled Hill out of the car. After Torres and another officer took Hill facedown to the pavement, Torres knelt on his back as his partner handcuffed him.

"When we tell you to do something, you do it," Torres screamed at the wide receiver. "You understand? Not what you want but what we tell you. You are a little fucking confused.... Stop crying."

The nearly 30-minute traffic stop began after a member of the MDPD motorcycle patrol pulled Hill over for allegedly speeding as he and others were arriving for the Dolphins' season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. As the incident unfolded, body-cam footage and bystander videos show Torres pushing Hill to the ground to get him to sit on the curb as Hill protests that he recently had knee surgery.

"Really, what a coincidence," Torres responds. "Did you have surgery in your ears when we told you to put your window down?"

When one of Hill's teammates, Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell, arrived at the scene, Torres shouted at him as well and later placed him in handcuffs.
"If you don't leave, I am going to take you to jail," Torres can be heard yelling at Campbell.

Following the release of the body-cam footage, the Dolphins released a statement during the police department to take "strong action against the officers who engaged in such despicable behavior."

"We are saddened by the overly aggressive and violent conduct directed towards Tyreek Hill, Calais Campbell, and Jonnu Smith by police officers before yesterday's game," the statement read. "It is both maddening and heartbreaking to watch the very people we trust to protect our community use such unnecessary force and hostility towards these players, yet it is also a reminder that not every situation like this ends in peace, as we are grateful this one did."

Cheetah: "He Gotta Go, Man"

After the team's Wednesday-morning practice in preparation for Thursday night's home game against the Buffalo Bills, the Dolphins arranged a 15-minute session for Hill to address the media.

The 30-year-old wideout was reflective, saying the episode came along at the right time in his life, when he's mature enough to handle it and to understand that his family is what matters most.

"I will say I could have been better — you know, I could have let down my window — in that instant…, he said. "But at the end of the day, you know, I'm human. I gotta follow rules. I gotta, you know, do what everyone else would do. Now, does that give them the right to literally beat the dog out of me? Absolutely not. But at the end of the day, I wish I could go back and, you know, do things a bit differently."

Still, he told reporters, he's still processing what transpired.

"I still love cops. You know, I want to be a cop, I mean, stand on the table for the cops…. I think the biggest thing for me is just, you know, making sure that I'm all right, and my family has been doing a great job with that, you know — because they asked me literally every five seconds: Are you? Are you? Are you? I'm like, I'm good. I'm good. Like, I went to the grocery store last night, my wife called me literally, like, ten times. Like, it's crazy, so I'm good."

Hill said he was at a movie theater watching Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with his family when he learned the county had released the body-cam footage.

"I went outside, you know, watched it," he said. "I feel like I handled myself well in that situation. Obviously, like I said, I can be better. But it's shell-shocking. Man, it's really crazy to know that you have officers in this world that would literally do that with body cams on. You know, it's sad. It's really sad."

He compared his takeaway from the incident to his football training.

"In football, how we get better from things is, we watch the tape and we get better from it. And this instance, we should do the same. You know, like a lot of people want to critique, a lot of people want to criticize, a lot of people want to do this. But I think this can be a learning tool for everybody, everybody — you know, civilians, officers around the world — like how to do conduct whenever they pull people over, like, we all can learn."

That said, he didn't mince words when asked how the MDPD should handle the episode.

"Gone," Hill replied. Gone, gone, gone. He gotta go, man. Because in that instant right there, like, not only did he treat me bad, he also treated my teammates with, you know, disrespect. You know, he had some crazy words towards them, and they ain't even do nothing. Like: What did they do to you? They just walking on the sidewalk.

So I don't know, bro, like he got to go, man. There's not too many times that Cheetah say people got to go, but: You! Ow! What do they say on Wild 'N Out? Gone!"

Hill said he will not stage a police protest at tonight’s game against the Bills. He noted that he does not want to "mix the two" as football is his therapy and helps him separate from past traumas.

"I’m not gonna take a knee," Hill added. "I’m not gonna, you know, ask to defund the police. I’m not gonna protest. I’m not gonna to do any of that."