Ice-T on Police Brutality: ‘I Play a Cop on TV…but I’ll Never Stop Speaking About Injustice’
Through the lens of a musician, Ice-T is infamous for using the sound as a weapon to call on justice. His era-defining 1992 track, “Cop Killer” shook up the concerns for government officials including President Bush. In light of the murder George Floyd who died after a Minneapolis Police officer pressed a knee into his neck while being pinned to the ground, Ice-T took to Twitter to speak out about the injustice in police brutality.
Before being permanently silenced, Floyd repeatedly told the officer “I can’t breath” during the arrest.
The trail of tweets started with a retweet of The Washington Post’s report where the Body Count lead acknowledged the murder or another “brother.”
“They Killed another Brother.. On Video,” he tweeted.
Ice-T went on and replied to a follower who expressed how “exhausted” they are about the race factor and checked them about the viewpoint of a Black man in America.
“I agree with you’re last statement.. But its NOT exhausting when its happening to you…,” Ice-T replied. “That’s like me telling a woman to let women’s rights go.. Unfortunately there is a VERY serious racial problem in the US.. Some of us live it.”
After sharing some of the fallacies he finds in racism, he clarifies his stance on injustice and expressing such publicly. According to Ice, there is nothing that will stop him from speaking out.
“I play a Cop on TV… But I’ll NEVER stop speaking about injustice,” Ice-T tweeted. “… EVER. F that.”
Since 2000, Ice-T has been a cast member of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where he plays Detective Odafin Tutuola. His role as a cop in the acting world and past “Cop Killer” controversy has made Ice-T one of hip-hop’s most authoritative voices when it comes to police brutality.
In a 2017 interview with Vice, Ice-T clarifies that “Cop Killer” was a reference for racist cops and not cops as a collective force.
“I don’t hate all cops; I’ve been playing a cop on TV for 18 years. When I was younger on the street and breaking the law, we didn’t hate the cops but considered them our opponents who we had to outsmart,” he told Vice. “Of course I have a hatred for racist people but I hate them whether they are cops or not. Cops are human beings and when they take that oath they don’t become supernatural. There are good ones and bad ones. A cop can save your life and a cop can take your life. But you could say that of anyone.”