Miami cops force homeless people out for ‘Bad Boys 4’ filming: report

Police reportedly forced homeless people living in tents in downtown Miami to pick up their things and move as the upcoming movie “Bad Boys 4” filmed in the area, according to a report.

Several people told The Miami Herald that Miami cops asked them to leave from the encampment when the cameras for the sequel, which stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence once again, started rolling this week.

“It’s because of that new movie that’s filming,” Matthew Williams told the paper while filling a bag with his belongings as police looked on. “They moved us because we were too close to their set. They didn’t want the fancy movie people from out of town seeing the homeless exist in Miami.”

“Bad Boys 4” has been filming all week in Miami and around southern Florida, leading to traffic headaches in the area. 

Miami Police Officer Michael Vega told the newspaper that it is illegal for people to put up a tent on city property and officers were simply enforcing the law.

The homeless encampment was located in a restricted area where “no one other than those approved by the film crew can be in that area,” he said.

“It is not that Miami Police doesn’t want them to see the homeless population,” Vega said. “They can see it through all of downtown Miami.”

The Post has reached out to the Miami Police Department and local officials for comment.

Miami police recommend that homeless people move to a number of the city’s shelters instead of being out on the street.

“They’re offered to go to a shelter and if they refuse, then they have to leave the area,” Vega told The Herald. “Before the officers tell them to move, they are offered help, and most refuse to accept it.”

Outside her tent’s new location after being shooed away by police, Felicia Evans, who has been homeless for nine months, said that the three of the city’s shelters were already at capacity.

“We don’t have too many places to go,” she said. “They’re filming for Will Smith, and we can’t go that way. It’s difficult. I don’t know what the next steps are going to be because all of the shelters are full.”

Bad Boys 4 is expected to be released sometime this summer.

Shortly before the pandemic shuttered theaters, “Bad Boys for Life” was a box-office hit, grossing $426 million worldwide. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is returning for the fourth film, as are “Bad Boys For Life” directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.