A pro-law enforcement group protested pop star Beyoncé’s concert in Tampa, Florida on Friday by chartering a plane to fly around the concert arena with a banner reading “#BlueLivesMatter.”
Beyoncé was performing at a sold-out concert at Tampa’s Raymond James football stadium when the plane reportedly began circling with its pro-police message. A photographer was able to capture the plane as it made its rounds:
A banner plane with the phrase #BLUELIVESMATTER circles @RJStadium at @Beyonce #FormationWorldTour #TampaBeyWatch pic.twitter.com/jFDgb5F4Dz
— Luis Santana (@LuisSantana) April 30, 2016
Blue Lives Matter is a pro-police advocacy organization founded in response to the anti-law enforcement rhetoric of organizations including Black Lives Matter.
Beyoncé ignited a firestorm of controversy when she performed a politically charged concert at the Super Bowl halftime show in February. The concert included a performance of her Black Lives Matter-inspired song “Formation” and featured backup dancers dressed in uniforms of the militant, anti-police Black Panther Party.
The pop star followed up her halftime performance with the release of the new “visual” album Lemonade, which again featured Black Lives Matter and other racially-charged imagery.
Police unions in Florida had vowed to boycott the concerts, but no such boycott or protest reportedly materialized.
“The PBA and our chief made it very clear that we were going to staff the concert as we would any other event,” a representative for the Tampa Bay Police Department told local NBC affiliate WFLA. “If an officer felt like they didn’t want to work the event, it’s a voluntary thing, they didn’t have to work that event.”
Beyoncé’s Formation Tour continued Sunday with a sold-out concert in Atlanta, Georgia’s Georgia Dome.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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