'Anti-police officer' city councilman gets testy with cops who pulled him over: 'Do you want to see who I am?'

Phoenix councilman Carlos Garcia was pulled over by Arizona State University police last month, KNXV-TV reported — and the newly elected District 8 councilman was caught on bodycam getting a tad testy with the officers.

What happened?

An officer told Garcia during the Sept. 10 traffic stop that the license plate on the vehicle he was driving was suspended.

"I don't believe you have jurisdiction," Garcia told one officer, adding, "I need an explanation as to what you were doing parked at the Bank of America running plates."

Image source: KNXV-TV video screenshot

After an officer asked for his license, registration, and proof of insurance, Garcia replied, "I have a meeting to go to. So I prefer you do this as quick as possible."

Garcia told the officers the vehicle belonged to his father, the station said.

"There was no expiration date on the document and it did not readily show vehicle information," the traffic stop report said, KNXV reported. "The insurance company confirmed that there was a policy number, however, it was canceled for non-payment as of August 19 of 2019."

The station said Garcia was cited but refused to sign the ticket.

"My concern is that you're out of jurisdiction," Garcia said, according to KNXV. "This is downtown Phoenix."

A second officer replied, "Yes, and our campus is right there," the station said.

"I just need to look into that more to figure out how to get you guys out of here," video shows Garcia telling the officers at the end of the stop before adding, "Well, do you want to see who I am?"

'The councilman is anti-police officer'

Political expert Stan Barnes told KNXV that "the councilman is anti-police officer, and he's playing it out in real time for all of us to see."

Image source: KNXV-TV video screenshot

"The elected official who plays the, 'Do you know who I am card?' is an elected official that is suffering from a lack of understanding of their office," Barnes added to the station. "I think it makes him continually radioactive as someone to try to do business with, try to make decisions on the city council. It colors everything in a very bad way and will probably hurt his own relationships with other councilmen that are needed in order for the city to function."

Barnes also told KNXV that Garcia came across at "a newly elected city official drunk on his own power."

"If you're an elected official, and you behave in this manner, it's a bad example for anyone paying attention to the rule of law, civil society, how we are supposed to behave when we deal with men and women in blue," Barnes noted to the station.

What did Garcia have to say afterward?

Garcia — who led a migrant-rights group prior to taking office and has been openly critical of police, KNXV said — sat down with the station and told his side of the story.

“In no way am I disputing the citation itself," he told KNXV. "What I am disputing is the priorities that the ASU Police Department sets."

Image source: KNXV-TV video screenshot

Garcia added to the station that after one of the officers returned with the citation, he asked for Garcia's social security number for "identifiable purposes." Garcia told KNXV he refused.

“It really triggered something in me," he added to the station. "It really made me question even further why they were doing what they were doing."

Garcia also told KNXV that because he's been "an immigrant rights activist and a police accountability activist for a long time, I'm concerned that a stop like that can end up in deportation proceedings or escalating to something else" and that it "looked like profiling."

He also explained that telling officers he wanted to "get them out of here" meant out of Phoenix proper since "their job is to patrol ASU campus; that's where they should stay," the station said.

(H/T: Blue Lives Matter)