MIAMI LODGE

FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE

th
710 Southwest 12 Avenue. Miami, Florida 33130
Phone (305) 854-5019
Ortiz@fopmiami.com

Javier Ortiz

Thomas Reyes

PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

February 17, 2016

Miami FOP Lodge# 20 Boycotting Beyoncs Miami Concert
The Miami Fraternal Order of Police has voted to have all law enforcement officers boycott Beyoncs
concert which is being held at the Miami Marlins Stadium on Wednesday, April 26, 2016. The fact that
Beyonc used this years Super Bowl to divide Americans by promoting the Black Panthers and her
antipolice message shows how she does not support law enforcement.
I was one of the tens of thousands of law enforcement officers that didnt watch the Super Bowl halftime
show out of respect for our profession. On another day while flipping through the television channels, I
did mistakenly watch her "Formation video that shows scenes of a young black boy dancing in front of
police in riot gear, who signal their surrender by putting their hands up, referencing the "Hands up, don't
shoot" anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement inspired by the 2014 death of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Missouri. I challenge Beyonc to review the eighty-six page report written by the United States
Department of Justice on the death investigation of Michael Brown. As quoted by a witness that was
interviewed by investigators, Witness 108 refused to provide additional details to either county or federal
authorities, citing community sentiment to support a hands up surrender narrative as his reason to
remain silent. He explained that he would rather go to jail than testify before the county grand jury. As
detailed throughout the USDOJ report, those hands up, dont shoot accounts are inaccurate because they
are inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence. Countless others contradicted or recanted their
accounts of what transpired. Hands up, don't shoot was built on a lie.
While Beyonc 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. I also salute the dozens of law
enforcement officers that have been assassinated by members of the Black Panthers.
We ask all law enforcement labor organizations to join our boycott across the country and to boycott all of
her concerts.

Fraternally,

Javier Ortiz
Javier Ortiz, President
Miami Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #20