California apologizes for allowing ‘LOLOCT7’ license plate mocking Hamas onslaught
Apology issued after activist group posts image of plate on Tesla Cybertruck in Los Angeles; DMV says incident ‘unacceptable and disturbing’
LOS ANGELES — California has apologized for allowing someone in the US state to register a license plate mocking the October 7 attacks on Israel.
The apology comes after activist group StopAntisemitism flagged a Tesla Cybertruck seen around Los Angeles sporting a plate that read “LOLOCT7,” which it said celebrated “terrorism against the Jewish people.”
LOL is a common abbreviation for “laughing out loud.”
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said on social media on Thursday that it would be acting to rescind the plate, which fell foul of its own rules.
“This is unacceptable and disturbing,” the agency wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“The DMV is taking swift action to recall these shocking plates, and we will immediately strengthen our internal review process to ensure such an egregious oversight never happens again.
StopAntisemitism is appalled by the sickening display on a Cyber Truck plate in California, celebrating terrorism against the Jewish people. pic.twitter.com/n6e0d07sWY
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 12, 2024
“We sincerely apologize that these personalized plates were not properly rejected during our review process.”
There are over 30 million vehicles in California, the vast majority of which have regular license plates.
But the DMV allows drivers — for an extra fee — to personalize plates, provided the resulting message does not “carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency,” according to its website.
Examples of banned plates include swear words, and racially or ethnically degrading terms.
