The Miami Fraternal Order of Police released a press release Thursday stating that they are planning to boycott Beyoncé’s concert in April and are urging others to do the same.
This comes after a controversial Super Bowl performance when Queen B alluded to the Black Panther movement.
“The fact that Beyoncé used this year’s Super Bowl to divide Americans by promoting the BlackPanthers and her antipolice message shows how she does not support law enforcement,” Javier Oritz President of The Miami FOP said in the press release. “We ask all law enforcement labor organizations to join our boycott across the country and to boycott all of her concerts.”
Following the Miami concert, Beyoncé is set to perform in Tampa on April 29th and Tampa police officers have come forward to admit they are hesitant to work the event. The singer recently released her new music video for “Formation” in which critics have claimed it sends an anti-cop message.
Tampa Police Department spokesperson Steve Hegarty spoke to FOX13, and explained off duty officers usually sign up to work concerts and special events, however no one has yet to sign up for Beyoncé’s show.
“We’re going to staff it because we have a responsibility to do that regardless of how controversial it might be, who the artist might be, or the politician might be,” Hegarty said. “This is a couple of months away, so we’ve still got plenty of time to fill those slots.”
This is not the first boycott from police when it comes to the Hollywood crowd.
Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino sparked debate when he spoke at an anti-police-brutality rally in Brooklyn, N.Y. on October 24. He said, “I’m a human being with a conscience. And if you believe there’s murder going on then you need to rise up and stand up against it. I’m here to say I’m on the side of the murdered.”
In response to his statements, local police organizations in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles all declared their plans to boycott the film.
Request for comment from Beyoncé, the Miami FOP, and the Tampa Police Department have yet to be returned.
