Cardi B is sick and tired of people who preach law and order but then are suddenly silent when the narrative doesn’t fit their views. “This past week we have seen an American lieutenant that served this country get treated like a f—ing dog by cops, got maced, got thrown to the floor — mind you, this man served this country,” Cardi said in a one-minute video on Twitter posted early Wednesday morning (April 14).
The video was seemingly in reference to the re-surfacing of the bodycam footage from a December traffic stop in Virginia where a police officer pepper-sprayed Black and Latino Army Lt. Caron Nazario in the face after a tense confrontation during a traffic stop.
The officer who unleashed the irritant has since been fired and Nazario has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $1 million against the two Windsor, Virginia PD cops, who said in a report on the incident that they stopped Nazario because he didn’t have a rear license plate on his new SUV; the car did have a temporary tag, according to reports.
The officers ordered Nazario — who was in uniform and who had driven to a gas station in order to be in a well-lit location — to exit the vehicle as he held his hands up outside the window, asking them why he was being stopped; he said he was afraid to get out and was then hit with pepper spray in the eyes and forced to lay on the ground.
In the video, Cardi — dressed in a fuzzy, white bathrobe — continued, “…Over some f—ing license plate that these mother—-ers couldn’t see — temporary license plate. We have seen a young man get killed by a cop, unarmed, and the excuse was the cop that had been on duty for 20-plus years, mistaked a gun for a taser,” she added, in reference to the police killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright on Sunday, who was killed when a veteran Brooklyn Center, Minnesota officer shot him after mistaking her taser for her weapon.
The shocking killing of the unarmed young Black man — which took place as the defense was about to begin their presentation in the trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd — has led to three nights of protest and unrest in the Minneapolis suburb.
“And my thing is, where the f— are you Twitter blue check Republicans at,” the rapper asked. ‘Y’all are the loudest on this motherf—ing app, y’all not saying nothing, y’all not complaining, y’all blame everything with what’s wrong in America beside the police. Y’all have been very silent! What’s going on?”
In the caption to the video, the “WAP” MC once again called out what she termed “Twitter Blue check Republicans,” saying “I don’t ever want to see yaa ranting on celebrities, athletes until yall address what’s REALLY WRONG IN AMERICA !” It was not clear who she was specifically targeting with the rant, but Wright’s killing has drawn widespread condemnation after it was revealed that he was reportedly pulled over for having air fresheners hanging from his rear-view mirror. After stopping Wright, the officers attempted to take him into custody after discovering that he had an outstanding arrest warrant and gave chase when he got back into his car and struck another vehicle.
In light of the latest killing of a young, unarmed Black man by a police officer, Ariana Grande and Mandy Moore shared a list of resources on their Instagram Stories to support those needing bail through the Minnesota Freedom Fund and The Bail Project earlier this week and Olivia Rodrigo shared a graphic on her IG Story that put Wright’s unlawful death in the context of Chauvin’s ongoing murder trial.
“Justice for #dauntewright. A 20 year old father pulled over for having an air freshener hanging from his rear view mirror (it’s illegal in Minnesota) and killed just miles from where George Floyd was murdered. It is sickening and heartbreaking,” Moore wrote on her Story. “The system doesn’t need reform, it needs a full transformation.”
The Game, Macklemore, Lauren Jauregui and The Roots’ Questlove also weighed in on the incident, calling for police reforms and questioning the officer’s reasoning for the stop.
Check out Cardi’s video below.
