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A Miami police union voted this week to boycott an upcoming Beyoncé concert, citing that the Houston superstar is pushing an anti-cop agenda via her music and performances. The Miami Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #20, issued a statement stating their concerns over the singer’s recent “Formation” video and her Super Bowl 50 halftime performance.

Javier Ortiz, the president of the union lodge, which deals with the affairs of 1,100 officers, wrote a press statement that he didn’t watch the Super Bowl performance out of respect for police. Many critics of Beyoncé believe that her salute to the Black Panter Party and images decrying police brutality in the “Formation” video are an attack against cops.

From the press release:

I was one of the tens of thousands of law enforcement officers that didn’t 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 Beyoncé 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, don’t shoot accounts are inaccurate because they are inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence.

The Huffington Post reported on Ortiz’s statement and followed up with him to get more details on this lodge’s protest. Ortiz replied via email that the union is urging officer to not work Beyoncé’s April concert then replied with a meme suggesting that the singer was hypocritical as it showed her and her husband, Jay Z, flanked by police escorts.

A spokesman for the Miami Police Department says that Ortiz and the FOP do not speak for the entire department nor the city and urged that the Marlins Park venue will be protected the day of the show.

Photo: WENN