The Department of Motor Vehicles has issued an apology over a California license plate that allegedly displayed hate speech over the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
On Thursday, the license plate in question was spotlighted in a post to X, formerly Twitter, by StopAntisemitism, a group “dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism.”
The license plate reads, “LOLOCT7.” “Lol” is an acronym that stands for “laugh out loud” and is typically used to express amusement.
The organization said the vehicle was spotted at the intersection of Jefferson and Sepulveda Boulevards in Culver City.
“How did this get processed?” the post read. “Demand the @CA_DMV recall this license plate that celebrates the October 7th terrorist attack—a vile mockery of the 1,200 innocent lives lost and the countless others scarred.”
By Thursday afternoon, DMV responded to the post by issuing an apology and calling the situation “unacceptable and disturbing” in a statement on X saying:
“The DMV is taking swift action to recall these shocking plates, and we will immediately strengthen our internal review probes to ensure such an egregious oversight never happens again.
We sincerely apologize that these personalized plates were not properly rejected during our review process. The use of hateful language is not only a clear violation of our policies but also a violation of our core values to proudly serve the public and ensure safe and welcoming roadways.”
A department representative who spoke with the Times said the vehicle’s owner would be notified of the situation and their license plate would be recalled.
The owner, however, has the right to appeal the DMV’s decision should they choose to do so.
DMV officials also told the Times that employees will scour the license plate database to identify additional offensive language involving the Oct. 7 attacks and recall those plates if found.
