Miami, FL — Javier Ortiz, president of a local police union in Miami, Floria wants to boycott superstar Beyonce’s upcoming concert in Miami, Floria because he says that during her recent NFL Super Bowl performance, she gave voice to an anti-police message by promoting the Black Panthers. He is accusing her of doing the same thing in her music video for her new song “Formation”.
But the city of Miami doesn’t agree
He also urged other law enforcement agencies around the country to do the same. However, the city of Miami is not exactly in agreement.
In fact, Maj. Delrish Moss, a spokesman for the Miami Police Dept, said that Ortiz and the Fraternal Order of Police do not speak on behalf of the city’s police department or the city of Miami itself. He added that the venue where Beyoncé is scheduled to perform, Marlins Park, would be protected.
Moss commented, “Right now the union president has his First Amendment right to say whatever he wants to say, but that doesn’t always translate to reality. As far as we see, there’s no indication that anything that is said there will translate into police officers not working the job.”
“I was just paying homage”
Meanwhile, Beyonce and others defend her performance saying that it simply saluted and paid homage to the 50th anniversary of the Black Panthers.
The Black Panthers was a revolutionary black nationalist and socialist organization active in the United States from 1966 until 1982. It was founded by activists Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. That organization, however, is not associated with a new group of activists that call themselves “The New Black Panthers.”
Watch TMZ’s video below: