Put the Phone Down / This Is For My Safety

Submission 3,402

Part of a series on Viral Videos. [View Related Entries]

About

Put the Phone Down or This Is For My Safety refers to a viral video of a man named Rahman Mohammad Mifta who has been pulled over by the police, getting out of his car while filming himself with his phone camera. The police officer, who can be seen aiming a taser at Mifta, repeatedly yells, "Put the phone down!" and Mifta refuses, repeating, "This is for my safety." Finally, he is tased. The footage was filmed and uploaded by TikToker @momoispimpin around March 2022 and went viral shortly after, inspiring discussions over whether or not Mifta had the right to film the traffic stop. In October 2024, the video saw a resurgence as the subject of memes, including recreations of the viral video.

Origin

On March 31st, 2022, Redditor u/Reeeet67 posted a video to the subreddit /r/police^[1] asking, "Looks like a Felony Traffic Stop, does the op have the right to keep holding his phone to record the interaction? Don’t know what state this is in btw," garnering over 360 upvotes in two years. The video was originally uploaded by TikToker @momoispimpin but was purportedly removed by TikTok on an unknown date.

In the video, momoispimpin, pulled over by the police, gets out of his car while filming himself through his phone camera. The police officer, who can be seen in the background aiming his taser at the man, repeatedly yells, "Put the phone down!" Momoispimpin repeatedly says, "This is for my safety," continuing to film. At the end of the video, two police officers approach and tase him.

That day, the video was reposted to /r/facepalm^[2] titled, "I think somewhere he is still holding the phone," garnering over 35,000 upvotes in two years. On April 1st, TikToker^[3] @momoispimpin reuploaded the video, claiming TikTok removed it, garnering over 19 million views in the same span of time.

Spread

The video garnered viral spread in 2022 as it was reposted and discussed. On April 1st, 2022, YouTuber^[4] The Damage Report uploaded a video reacting to and commentating on the video, garnering over 126,000 views in two years. In the video, the commentators call Rahman "brave" and question how his holding of the phone affects the ability of the police to make an arrest.

On May 20th, 2024, the video was reposted to the subreddit /r/ThatsInsane,^[5] garnering over 9,400 upvotes in five months. That day, Redditor u/Golden-Grams left a comment under the video about Mifta and his prior arrest history that garnered over 4,000 upvotes in the same timeframe. One link leads to a 2019 arrest record that claims Mifta was arrested on charges of aggravated menacing, obstruction of official business, resisting arrest, improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle and driving under OVI suspension.^[6] A 2021 arrest record shows that Rahman was arrested on charges of domestic violence and assault.^[7]

On October 2nd, TikToker^[8] @gurkensalat425 uploaded an edit of the video, garnering over 81 million views in three weeks. The original sound for @gurkensalat425's reupload was used over 2,400 times in the same span of time.

On October 6th, 2024, TikToker^[9] @cjbrxtiktok posted a meme recreating the video using LEGO figures, garnering over 10 million views in two weeks. On October 10th, TikToker^[10] @flayblox posted a video recreating it in Roblox, garnering over 4.9 million views in 12 days.

On October 16th, X^[11] user @earth2yume posted a Class of '09 fan animation using the audio, garnering over 1,200 likes in six days.

On October 21st, 2024, YouTuber^[12] and lawyer Ugo Lord: Modern Age Attorney posted a video claiming that, while Mifta had the right to film the arrest, he was in the wrong to keep holding the phone because he was under arrest and your hands must be free during an arrest, garnering over 16,000 views in a day.