The creator of the “F— the LAPD” shirt that drew the ire of the Los Angeles Police Department Foundation last year has found himself in conflict with another law enforcement agency, this time on the federal level.
The Cola Corporation, which sells shirts, hats and other streetwear items that frequently criticize capitalism, colonialism and police, said a shipment of three T-shirt designs was held at Chicago O’Hare International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
One of the designs features a bee on the front and what appears to be a Chicago police officer cowering in fear of a swarm of bees on the back.
Cola, which is headed by someone only identified as Joe, was reportedly first told the seizure was due to copyright issues, then that there was no country of origin listed on the shipment.
As a result, CBP said they’ll either send the shirts back to China or destroy them.
“I cannot prove to you that CBP saw the officer being attacked by the swarm of bees and got their feelings hurt, but what I can tell you is that for a week all I heard was copyright, copyright, copyright, and the second I prove it’s my copyright, their story changes,” Joe told 404 Media. “And now it’s ‘we’re destroying it.’”
In response, Joe said Cola is reissuing the shirts, which are available for preorder as part of the Confiscated Collection.
“The federal government’s confiscation of the original shipment at O’Hare airport only delayed the inevitable,” Cola wrote on its website. “The people want Cola and the people are indomitable.”
Cola and the CBP did not respond to a request for more information before publication. This story will be updated as further information becomes available.
