The state Department of Motor Vehicles is “reviewing and strengthening its internal processes for evaluating personalized license plate applications,” in response to the issuance of a plate criticized as antisemitic, a department spokesman said Monday.
A son of the man with the plate LOLOCT7 said Friday it was merely an attempt by the owner of the Tesla Cybertruck to say he has seven grandchildren and make reference to the vehicle — but the plate has drawn criticism for appearing to mock the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
After the truck was seen at the intersection of Jefferson and Sepulveda boulevards in Culver City, the watchdog group StopAntisemitism demanded Thursday the DMV recall the plate, saying in a post on X that “LOL” stood for “laugh out loud” and that the plate celebrated “the October 7th terrorist attack — a vile mockery of the 1,200 innocent lives lost and the countless others scarred.”
Replying to an inquiry from City News Service, Chris Orrock, an information officer with the DMV’s Office of Public Affairs, said Monday, “The DMV is aware of the concerns raised regarding the personalized license plate.”
“While the plate’s owner has shared that “LOLO” means “grandfather” in Tagalog, and the configuration was intended to honor their Filipino heritage, we recognize that the same combination of letters and numbers has been interpreted by others as offensive, particularly within the Jewish community,” Orrock said.
“Given the DMV’s commitment to ensuring that personalized license plates do not carry configurations that can be interpreted in a manner prohibited by our regulations, in line with established protocols, we will recall this specific plate configuration.
“We understand that language and symbols can hold different meanings across cultures and communities. What may be a term of endearment in one context can be perceived differently in another.”
The department apologizes “for any distress this situation may have caused and appreciate the public’s understanding as we work to improve our procedures,” Orrock said.
After the StopAntisemitism group’s X post, the DMV announced later Thursday that it was “taking swift action to recall” the plate, which it called on X “unacceptable and disturbing.”
StopAntisemitism bills itself as “a grassroots watchdog organization dedicated to exposing groups and individuals that espouse incitement towards the Jewish people and State and engage in antisemitic behaviors.”
The son of the truck’s owner said the explanation for the meaning of the plate was included in the application, as is required.
“We have great empathy for anyone that’s experienced that hatred,” the man said. “We’d really appreciate in turn for anyone that’s seeing this or hearing this to have empathy towards our family because we have no ill intent.”