Beyonce Knowles can forget about a police escort to her sold out Miami concert in April.
Miami’s largest police union, with 1,100 police officers, voted to boycott Beyonce’s upcoming Miami concert.
Officers from the Miami Police Department join their brothers in blue at the Tampa Police Department, who also refuse to work Beyonce’s concerts.
The backlash is in response to Beyonce’s Super Bowl halftime concert where she paid tribute to the Black Panthers and the Black Lives Matter activists.
Without police protection, most insurance companies won’t underwrite major concerts, meaning Beyonce’s concerts may be canceled in those cities.
Javier Ortiz, president of Miami Fraternal Order of Police, said the boycott is “out of respect for our profession.”
In his statement, Ortiz wrote:
“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. 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.”
Ortiz said his officers were particularly offended by Beyonce’s music video for “Formation” which featured a boy dancing in front of police, and Beyonce stretched out on top of a sinking police car.
Ortiz sent the above meme in an email to The Huffington Post. The meme suggested that Beyonce and her husband, rap mogul Jay Z, only need the police to escort them through “common folk.”
