FL Police Ticket Directs Drivers To Pro-Trump Website: Report

Miami FL

16 February, 2022

10:26 AM

Description

MIAMI BEACH, FL — A typo on a flyer handed out with traffic citations by Miami Beach police directed drivers who thought they were going to the Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts website to a pro-Trump website selling merchandise for the former president's 2024 presidential campaign. The county clerk's website printed on the flyers were missing a hyphen, the Washington Post reported. While the clerk's website is www.miami-dadeclerk.com, the flyers handed out by the Miami Beach Police Department included two websites: the correct one and www.miamidadeclerk.com. That missing hyphen redirected drivers, who simply wanted to handle their traffic tickets and fines, to an online store on findsale.com that is hawking Donald Trump merchandise. The bestseller on the site is a flag that reads "Trump 2024 Take America Back." Among other items available on the site are a DVD called "Trump 2024: The World After Trump," a flag that reads "Trump 2024 Let's Go Brandon" and a flag that reads "Trump 2024 Take America Back," as well as a camouflage Trump hat and hoodie. There's also a double-sided flag that reads, "In This House We Believe Hillary Belongs In Prison Joe Belongs In A Nursing Home & Trump Belongs In The White House." Domain records show that the site is hosted by Epik, which is known for hosting far-right websites, like Gab and Parler, that wouldn't have a home anywhere else, the Post reported. "We're aware of this typographical error now," Miami Beach police spokesperson Ernesto Rodriguez told the Miami Herald on Monday. "We put out a notice to officers to discontinue using them." Officers have been directed to hand out older brochures that don't include information about new options that allow drivers to avoid court for non-moving violations, such as having an expired registration or driver's license. The original flyer, which was sent by the county court to law enforcement agencies in Miami-Dade County in May 2020, included only the correct website address, according to reports. Miami Beach police made its own version of the flyer, which is how the typo appeared in the information they were handing out to drivers, Rodriguez said. Patch has reached out to Rodriguez for additional information.