The Costa Mesa Police Department has launched an investigation after a man accused an officer of racial profiling during a traffic stop.
Video of the traffic stop was shared on TikTok and has now been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.
Abdullahi Aden made it clear he’s not trying to wage a war on police and he said he’s had several positive interactions with officers, but last Tuesday he felt he was treated less than human and the interaction was caught on camera.
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"I was driving my car," Aden said.
Aden said he had just gone shopping with friends at South Coast Plaza when he was pulled over for tinted windows and once he was pulled over he realized he didn’t have his driver’s license.
"Honest mistake sir, I don’t have my driver’s license on me, but I do have my license number memorized and he ended up saying nope I’m searching this car," the shared video on Tik Tok said.
The video continues by the showing an interaction where the officer asks Aden if he is a legal lawyer and when Aden responds that he studies at the number one public university, the officer mentions prison.
Adrienna Wong a Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU said the officer’s actions weren’t right and they weren’t legal.
"The officer's reference to prison when this person referenced their enrollment at UC Berkeley, of course raises concern of racial bias," Wong said. "The officer was wrong. He was not allowed to search the car for identification under clearly established law. Unfortunately it’s a widespread problem that police pressure to submit to searches of this kind of cars during traffic stops without evidentiary justification."
The Costa Mesa Police Department released a statement saying that they are aware of the video on social media.
They went on to say "We understand the concern regarding the officer's dialogue during the traffic stop. We are committed to protecting and serving our community fairly and with empathy."
"We are honestly treated as though we are below class, we are below citizens," Aden said.
Aden feels like he wasn't treated with he respect he deserves.
"It really comes down to that "golden rule" we were taught as kids in elementary. Treat people the way you want to be treated," Aden said. "Everybody forgot the golden rule we were taught in elementary. It’s crazy, this world is crazy."
The Costa Mesa Police declined an on-camera interview request. They said they take these matters seriously and have launched an internal investigation into the matter with the department's Professional Standards Bureau.
