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A police union in Miami voted in favor of all law enforcement officers boycotting Beyonce’s April concert in the city, claiming the singer promoted an anti-police message in her new music video and during her performance at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Javier Ortiz, president of Miami Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #20, which represents 1,100 officers, wrote in a press release that he didn’t watch Beyoncé’s performance during halftime “out of respect for our profession.” The performance saluted the 50th anniversary of the Black Panthers and has been criticized by some as anti-police.
“The Miami Fraternal Order of Police has voted to have all law enforcement officers boycott Beyoncé’s concert which is being held at the Miami Marlins Stadium on Wednesday, April 26, 2016,” Ortiz said in a statement. “The fact that Beyoncé used this year’s Super Bowl to divide Americans by promoting the Black Panthers and her antipolice message shows how she does not support law enforcement.” The organization urged other law enforcement agencies around the country to do the same.
Ortiz said he had “mistakenly” seen the video for Beyoncé’s new song, “Formation,” which features an African-American boy dancing in front of police in riot gear, Beyoncé sitting on top of a New Orleans police car that is sinking, and graffiti that reads “Stop shooting us.”
A spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department said multiple law enforcement agencies usually staff big concerts, and that MDPD was affiliated with the Police Benevolent Association, another union. Ortiz did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what the boycott would actually entail.
While Fox 13 reported Wednesday that no police officers in Tampa, Florida, had signed up to staff Queen B’s concert there, Tampa Police spokesman Steve Hegarty told The Huffington Post on Thursday that officers had indeed signed up for the event, which he said would be fully staffed.
Earlier this week, a Tennessee police sheriff who reportedly heard someone fire six gunshots outside his house said Beyoncé was responsible. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has also criticized Beyoncé.
There was also a protest against Beyoncé’s Super Bowl performance planned Wednesday outside of NFL headquarters in New York City, but barely anyone showed up.
It’s not the first time police have tried to boycott a musician for being critical of them. In 2000, two New York police groups urged officers to boycott a Bruce Springsteen concert after he released the song “American Skin (41 Shots),” about the police killing of Amadou Diallo.
This article has been updated with comments from the Tampa police department.
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