Rapper and actor Ice-T, who has portrayed a police officer on Law & Order: SVU for 24 years, was caught on a police body cam video having a heated verbal exchange with a New Jersey officer during a traffic stop.
Ice-T, who’s real name is Tracy Lauren Marrow, was pulled over in May in North Bergen, New Jersey, by a Hudson County Sheriff’s officer, but only now has the police video been made public.
In the video, the officer appears to have pulled the actor over for a missing license plate on the front of his Porsche. But it is also discovered that the car’s registration lapsed way back in 2021.
The officer informs Ice-T about the registration issue and the actor replies that the Motor Vehicle Commission office is close by and he was going there to renew his registration. The officer then asks if Ice-T has a reservation at the MVC, to which the actor replies, “I don’t need one. They know me,” TMZ reported.
In New Jersey the motor vehicles department suggests that drivers make an advanced appointment to conduct their business with the department, but appointments are not required and walk-ins are accommodated.
The MVC issue continued to be a sticking point for the officer and the actor then suggests, “Why don’t you follow me right to this garage, the DMV is right here,” and adds, “You don’t gotta be that serious about this. Well, you can, but you don’t have to.”
The officer replies that it is serious and that the actor isn’t supposed to be driving anywhere without legal registration and then tells Ice-T he is going to have the car towed to the police impound.
“You’re not gonna tow my fucking vehicle, let me park my car right here,” Ice-T said and added that he could just walk to the MVC, get the sticker for the car, and bring it back.
But the officer is intractable on the matter, saying, “You’re not gonna move your car, give me the keys right now and I’m gonna tow your vehicle. Try to be more respectful of me and I’m gonna be more respectful to you.”
At that point, Ice-T gets out of the car, hands over his keys and barks, “Give me my paperwork, you’re an ass hole.” And he then looks right into the officer’s body camera and says, “Give me my fucking paperwork, get this on camera.”
As the actor begins using his cell phone to record the incident, the officer calls for his supervisor. Upon arriving, the supervising sergeant decides to allow the actor to walk to the MVC and get his new sticker, then walk back and get his car without it being towed.
The officer then hands back the actor’s keys and says, “Just show some respect.” With one more retort, Ict-T says, “I don’t have to,” and leaves the scene.
It was reported that the actor paid all the fines in full.
Before becoming an actor, Ice-T became the center of controversy with his band Body Count when they released their infamous tune, Cop Killer, in 1992. The song is unabashed hate for law enforcement and suggests that black people should kill police officers.
The rapper insisted that the song was not a call to murder cops, but was an artistic presentation of a particular type of character.
“This song is about somebody who is fed up with police brutality,” he said at the time, according to Yahoo News. “It’s not a call to arms. It’s a cry of frustration from a character in a song. If you believe that I’m promoting violence, then you haven’t been listening.”
However, after an intense backlash, Ice-T did pull the song from future pressings of the album to avoid causing harm to his label.
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