‘This is how you guys get killed out here,’ cop tells Black driver questioning traffic stop

A veteran Miami-Dade police officer is being investigated after video surfaced of him telling a black man who questioned why he had been pulled over, "this is how you guys get killed out here, man."

The man identified by WTVJ-NBC 6 as Nicolas seems taken aback when the officer tells him to repeat. Before the short video ends, say what you just said.

Nicolas was stopped for not wearing a seat belt.

The motorcycle cop, who has not been named, was taken off his beat and has been assigned desk duty.

Interim Miami-Dade Police Director George Perez said that he was bothered by the inference.

Nicolas and the officer exchanged words near the corner of Northeast 159th Street and 18th Avenue. Nicolas was going to work that day. Nicolas was asked for his license, registration and insurance by the officer, who said if he didn't give it up, he wouldn't be working.

The officer made a statement when Nicolas didn't immediately give up the documents. Nicolas told NBC 6 he started recording when the officer grabbed his door handle.

The president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association wants to see the whole video before making a decision. He said he doesn't believe the officer's statement is racially charged and that he interprets it to mean the officer is speaking about the dangers of not wearing a seat belt.

People die if they don't wear seat belts.

Perez ordered an internal review after Miami-Dade cyber detectives noticed that Nicolas had posted about it on his TikTok account. Perez said he watched 31 minutes of the officer's body camera footage after he ordered Nicolas to stop.

Nicolas was fined for driving with a suspended license, not wearing a seat belt, and not having a license tag. He was not arrested and his car was not towed. Perez said that a family member recovered it.

Nicolas spoke with detectives and filed a complaint, according to Perez. Nicolas said in an interview with NBC 6 that he was respectful of the officer and that the officer's body camera footage would show that. The police did not release that footage by Monday.