The joke was on Miami on Thursday (February 2) after a new police cruiser decorated with Africa-themed imagery was unveiled. To celebrate Black History Month, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez attended the unveiling ceremony at the city’s Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum, where Miami police chief Manuel Morales was also present.
“This is a beautiful collaboration to commemorate Black history and Black History Month and the history of African Americans and our police department and our city,” Suarez said. “This is Black history.”
Spray-painted on the vehicle are the Black History Month flag colors of red, yellow black and green. On the cruiser’s rear windshield is a quote from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., reading, “Be the peace you wish to see in the world.”
During the ceremony, Suarez also referenced police brutality against Black Americans, namely Tyre Nichols, who was deadly beaten at the hands of five Memphis police officers in early January.
Obviously we’ve seen some things across the country that are shocking, that we hope and know will never be repeated in our jurisdiction,” Suarez said at a Thursday press conference, according to Miami New-Times.
“But I think part of the reason why it won’t is because we embrace our history,” Suarez continued. “We know where we came from. We understand what the struggles were.”
Check out more reactions to the police cruiser below.
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