LOS Angeles – Though the family of the car owner has refuted that interpretation, the California Department of Motor Vehicles apologized Thursday for producing a customized license plate that seemed to parody the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas.
The X account StopAntisemitism posted a picture of the license plate reading “LOLOCT7,” attached to a Tesla Cybertruck, taken at a busy Culver City junction close to Los Angeles.
The account asked the California DMV to “celebrate the October 7th terrorist attack” and label the plates as “vile mockery.”
The son of the owner of the car informed ABC affiliate KABC Friday that the license plate’s account was misreading a Tagalog term.
Referencing the Tagalog word for grandfather, the type of the car, and the number of grandkids the owner had, the son—who the station did not identify—said the plate should be read as “LOLO-CT-7.” The son informed the channel the DMV received the explanation when the license plate application was turned in.
California DMV apologies over license plate.
The California DMV stated in a statement sent to X that it is recalling the plates and would go over its customized license plate evaluation.
“We truly apologies that these personalized plates were not properly rejected during our review process,” the statement said.
The son of the car owner informed KABC the event is a “total big misunderstanding.”
“We really sympathize with anyone who has gone through any hate,” the son informed the station. “We had no ill intent for anything; thus, we would really appreciate, in turn, for anyone seeing or hearing this any empathy toward our family.”
