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Salon
Salon
Politics
Alex Henderson

Cops used traffic stops to promote Trump

Donald Trump | Miami Police Cars Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images

In Florida, one tends to find the heaviest concentration of Democratic voters in the southern part of the state — including Miami. But when some motorists were recently pulled over by Miami police officers, the Miami Herald reports, they received "an invitation to check out a website selling Trump 2024 merchandise."

According to Herald reporter Douglas Hanks, "A city police flier in circulation until last week explaining how to resolve minor traffic tickets online dropped a crucial hyphen for a Miami-Dade County courts website, steering drivers away from a bland judicial portal and to an online store selling flags, videos and caps celebrating former President Donald Trump and his potential third run for the White House."

Hanks note that "offerings at miamidadeclerk.com include Trump 2024 camouflage caps, a DVD exploring the possibility of a 'one-world centralized government' with Trump in the White House, and two Trump-themed flags featuring the obscenity 'F***": one paired with 'Biden,' the other with 'Your Feelings.'" 

But those flyers were not officially endorsed by the Miami Beach Police.

In an official statement issued on Valentine's Day, Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said, "We put out a notice to officers to discontinue using them."

In Miami Beach, Hanks notes, President Joe Biden "won 60% of the 2020 presidential vote."

"Since pulling the fliers from distribution last week," Hanks reports, "Miami Beach told police officers to hand out dated brochures with traffic tickets that don't include the new options for avoiding court from non-moving violations. Rodriguez said drivers will still learn of those options when they visit the court website, and that new fliers with only the proper web address are being printed."

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