- A Black man posted a heated exchange he had with a Miami-Dade police officer on TikTok last week.
- The man, Gerardson Nicolas, told NBC 6 he was pulled over during a traffic stop for not wearing a seat belt.
- In the video, the officer is heard telling Nicolas: "This is how you guys get killed out here."
A video posted to TikTok last week shows a Florida police officer telling a Black man that he pulled over for not wearing a seat belt: "This is how you guys get killed out here man."
The man, identified as Gerardson Nicolas, told NBC 6 on Monday that he was pulled over by a motorcycle cop in North Miami Beach on June 15 as he was driving to work without wearing a seat belt.
Nicolas told NBC 6 that the officer was getting "mad" at him because he couldn't find his wallet, and that he started filming because he was scared for his life.
Watch it here:
@giliam509 #Being ♬ original sound - Bab9In the almost 50-second video, the officer, who has not been identified, is heard telling Nicolas: "Give me your driver's license, registration, and insurance. If not, you will not be going to work today. Simple thing, man. This is how you guys get killed out here, man."
"What? Say that again? Say what you just said," Nicolas responded in the video.
"Registration and insurance," the officer said before shutting the car door on Nicolas and walking away to check his driver's license.
Nicolas posted the video of the encounter on TikTok the next day.
"I didn't think my life was going to make it," Nicolas told NBC 6. "I was looking for my stuff, my license because I didn't see my wallet ... He got mad."
The Miami-Dade Police Department told NBC 6 in a statement that an investigation was opened after Interim Director George A. Perez found out about the video. The officer in the video was moved from patrol duty to desk duty, the Miami Herald reported.
The Miami-Dade Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association police union, told the Herald he doesn't believe the officer's comments were racially charged and that the officer could have been referring to how not wearing a seat belt can kill you.
"People die from not wearing seat belts every day," Stahl told the Herald.
Nicolas told NBC 6 he was given a ticket for not wearing a seat belt and not having a proper license tag on him, but that he was not arrested.
Watch:
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