‘Do Your Magic on These Guys’: Florida Cops Muted Their Bodycams While Arresting 3 Black Men Under Questionable Circumstances, Then Cut‑and‑Pasted a Story That Fell Apart Under Scrutiny
Alquez Griffin, a 27-year-old Black man from Miami, had just clocked out from his warehouse job with a couple of friends late one night last […] ‘Do Your Magic on These Guys’: Florida Cops Muted Their Bodycams While Arresting 3 Black Men Under Questionable Circumstances, Then Cut‑and‑Pasted a Story That Fell Apart Under Scrutiny
Black News 
Alquez Griffin, a 27-year-old Black man from Miami, had just clocked out from his warehouse job with a couple of friends late one night last year when police pulled them over under questionable circumstances – arresting them for possessing “burglary tools” that turned out to be the tools they used for work.
Hialeah police tried to justify the traffic stop by claiming Griffin had been swerving between lanes while the occupants in the car kept looking back at the cop car behind them.
Police reports claim the cops smelled weed and that Griffin and the backseat passenger were “reaching” for something, making police fear for their lives, which was why a multitude of cops showed up in unmarked cars, ordering the men out at gunpoint.
But the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office dismissed all felony charges against the men this month because the body camera footage from the cops contradicted their police reports, said Roderick Vereen, the Miami attorney preparing a lawsuit against the Hialeah Police Department.
“The arrest affidavits are false,” Vereen said in an email statement to Atlanta Black Star.
“The State dropped the case because the cops were liars, commit(ed) violations of the law, lied in the affidavits and the video evidence did not support their case.”
Vereen provided more than three hours of body camera footage to Atlanta Black Star that had been released to him by the state attorney’s office, but none of the footage includes the initial interaction of the traffic stop that would have shown the alleged swerving, reaching and toking.
Instead, the footage shows the cops ordering them out at gunpoint without explaining why they were being detained, then searching their car without a warrant or consent, and finding several hook-like objects they confused for “burglary tools” but which were actually hand rebar wire‑twisting tools that are sold at Home Depot.
Watch the video below.
‘Step Out of the F_cking Car’
Hialeah police pulled the men over shortly before midnight on Sept. 3, 2025, at a gas station closed for the night, ordering the men out at gunpoint and on the ground to be handcuffed.
“Step out of the f_cking car,” one cop is telling the men after the traffic stop is initiated which is where the footage sent by the prosecutor’s office begins.
The arrest affidavits on all three men state that police were conducting a “proactive crime suppression detail” when they spotted the men in the car and began following the car.
But the reports do not explain what made them suspicious about the car in the first place which is why Vereen speculates it was the usual “Driving While Black” traffic stop.
“I observed a black 2016 Chevrolet Malibu bearing a Florida license plate (FCMV76) driving through the residential area,” the report states. “I began to follow the above-mentioned vehicle eastbound from the intersection of East 1 Avenue and Hialeah Dr.”
“As I was following the vehicle, all occupants of the vehicle kept looking back towards my vehicle as the vehicle was picking up speed. The driver of the vehicle was failing to drive in a single lane and was weaving in and out of traffic.”
Once the cop made the traffic stop, he claimed the men made him fear for his safety.
“I observed the driver of the vehicle reaching down. I also observed the rear occupant reaching towards the left side of his body and looking back. For officer safety, I waited for backup officers to arrive and ordered the driver of the vehicle to step out.”
The report goes on to say that as the cop approached the car, “a strong smell of burnt marijuana was emitting from inside the vehicle.”
But for reasons that have not been explained, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office did not include any of that footage in the videos released to Vereen.
“No one smoked marijuana,” Vereen told Atlanta Black Star. “They just got off from work.”
‘They Look Like Burglary Tools to Me’
The videos released by prosecutors begin by showing the cops ordering the men out of the car at gunpoint and handcuffing them before searching the car, never indicating on video any reasonable suspicion of a crime they may have had as to justify the search.
As one cop was searching through backpacks found in the back seat of the car, he came across the work tools.
“They look like burglary tools to me,” said the cop.
“They all had them. They all have these things.”
The cop suggested the men used the hooks to pry things open but it was also clear the cops had no idea what the items were because they remained doubtful even after one of the men explained to them what they were used for.
“Those f–king burglary tools,” one cop asked another cop who had spoken to one of the men about them. “You ask him about that?”
“He said they use that as anchors to move pieces of whatever machinery that they use,” the cop explained to the cop named Alvarado, who appeared confused but walked away without saying anything.
At one point in the footage, the cops muted their body cameras for 90 seconds to converse among themselves.
“This is not a case of lost evidence, corrupted files, or accidental malfunction,” Vereen wrote in a motion to dismiss in February, according to online court records.
“The officer made a conscious decision to mute the BWC (body-worn camera) during a critical investigative moment. This is the very definition of bad faith.”
‘Quintessential Driving While Black Stop’
The cops also stated in their reports that they found two guns inside the car, including one that had been reported stolen, found underneath the driver’s seat, and the other, legally owned by Griffin, found inside a backpack. The report also claims that Griffin told the cops about the gun under the seat.
But Vereen said his client only informed the cops about the legal gun in his backpack, and prosecutors did not release the footage showing the initial interaction that would confirm he said anything about a gun under his seat.
Vereen also points out that the three arrest reports for each man included cut-and-paste narratives of what had allegedly taken place, but they were all signed by three different officers, raising the question as to who actually wrote the report or who made the initial traffic stop.
“All three affidavits say the same exact thing, yet each affidavit is signed by another officer,” Vereen told Atlanta Black Star.
“My client never received a citation for his driving because it was all bullc–p. He never consented to a search of his vehicle. He only claimed one gun that was in his backpack. Had no knowledge of gun they claimed was under driver’s seat.”
Vereen also points out another portion of the video where cops can be heard telling another cop to “do your magic on these guys,” which Vereen believes was their way of telling him to write the narrative in a way to justify their stop.
“This statement — captured on BWC — is powerful evidence of fabrication, embellishment, intentional narrative manipulation, and lack of credibility,” Vereen wrote in a motion to suppress.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office dismissed all charges against the men on March 20, including carrying concealed firearms and possessing burglary tools. Vereen said he will soon file a notice of claim which is the first step in filing a lawsuit.
“This is the quintessential Driving While Black stop — a racially motivated seizure unsupported by reasonable suspicion,” Vereen wrote in his motion to suppress.
“The officer later inserted boilerplate language claiming the vehicle was ‘weaving’ and ‘failing to drive in a single lane,’ but no traffic citation was issued, the BWC does not corroborate any traffic violation, and the officer began following the vehicle before any alleged infraction.”
