cartel gaming How a Fil-Am honoring his 7 grandkids sparked antisemitism allegations

Photo from @stopantisemites/X

LOS ANGELES – A Filipino American owner of a Tesla Cybertruck ordered a personalized car plate to honor his heritage and seven grandchildren.

He picked “LOLOCT7,” with the first four letters, “lolo,” meaning grandfather in his native language,  Tagalog. “CT” stands for Cybertruck and “7” refers to his seven grandkids.

However, after the truck was spotted on the road, the car plate sparked condemnation for antisemitism.

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The watchdog group StopAntisemitism posted the photo of the car plate “LOLOCT7” on X, claiming 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.”

Demand the @CA_DMV recall this license plate that celebrates the October 7th terrorist attack—a vile mockery of the 1,200 innocent lives lost and the countless others scarred.

ACT NOW: https://t.co/OblEUexjgt https://t.co/u1ACDPGviS

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 12, 2024

They demanded the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to immediately recall the plate.

Before looking into the matter, the DMV quickly issued a public apology, saying it was “taking swift action to recall” the plate, which was meant to honor the truck owner’s heritage and grandchildren.

In a post on X, DMV described the plate as “unacceptable and disturbing.”

The son of the truck’s owner bewailed the misunderstanding and 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.”

In spite of the son’s explanation and proof of the real meaning of the car plate, as indicated in the approved application, StopAntisemitism insisted that the car plate still be recalled – and the DMV readily complied.

StopAntisemitism describes 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.”

A DMV spokesman Tuesday said the department was “reviewing and strengthening its internal processes for evaluating personalized license plate applications.”

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.

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“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. (With CNS report)

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