Miami's police union president calls for officers to boycott Beyoncé
REUTERS/Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
A failed New York City Beyoncé boycott isn't deterring a Miami police union president from calling for a "Bey-cott" in Florida.
According to the Miami New Times, Fraternal Order of Police President Javier Ortiz is calling for all law enforcement officers to boycott her April 27 performance at Miami's Marlins Park, though in his published statement, he says the concert will be held April 26.
Beyoncé's Super Bowl 50 performance has been criticized by some for its homage to the Black Panthers. The singer has also been blasted by certain pundits for her video for her newest single "Formation," which honors the Black Lives Matter movement and some believe has an anti-police message.
In a release posted February 17, Ortiz wrote, "The fact that Beyonc used this year's Super Bowl to divide Americans by promoting the Black Panthers and her anti-police message shows how she does not support law enforcement."
He wrote that he did not watch the Super Bowl performance "out of respect for our profession," though he "mistakenly" watched her "Formation" video.
"I challenge Beyoncé to review the eighty-six page report written by the United States Department of Justice on the death investigation of Michael Brown," he wrote. He later added, "Hands up, don't shoot was built on a lie."
Ortiz also mentioned his support to police officers killed by the Black Panthers.
"While Beyoncé physically saluted the 50th anniversary of the Black Panthers movement at the Super Bowl, I salute NYPD Officer Richard Rainey, who succumbed to his injuries on February 16, 2016 from being shot by two Black Panthers who he had pulled over in a traffic stop," he wrote. "I also salute the dozens of law enforcement officers that have been assassinated by members of the Black Panthers."
It should be noted that Rainey was wounded by gunshots in 1981 and died in March of last year.
Ortiz ended the statement asking "all law enforcement labor organizations to join our boycott across the country and to boycott all of her concerts."
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