LA cops scramble to delete 'offensive' post about Iran strikes
By
'Our hearts go out to the victims and families impacted by the recent bombings in Iran,' the post on X stated. 'While this tragic event happened overseas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is closely monitoring the situation alongside our local, state and federal partners.' Social media users were quick to slam the post as out-of-touch.
It came after police faced heavy criticism for allowing anti-ICE and 'No Kings' riots to spiral out of control in LA just weeks ago. 'We sincerely hope your account was hacked,' Stop Antisemitism wrote in response to the controversial post. 'There were no victims in last night's successful targeting of Iran's nuclear sites.'
'How is this even real??' one X user wrote in response to the post, while another slammed it as 'PATHETIC and DISGUSTING'. 'Your "hearts are with the people of Iran". Did you put that statement out EVERY time the people of Israel got bombed?' they fumed. 'No wonder your city and state is a CESSPOOL.'
'As a 31 year veteran of a Big City Police Department, I have to say that your initial post, calling the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites a 'tragic event', was beyond embarrassing,' a third person commented. 'Since when do LE agencies comment on national defense, or foreign policy issues? Try policing LA.' The sheriff's office promptly deleted the post and issued a lengthy apology.
'We are issuing this statement to formally apologize for an offensive and inappropriate social media post recently posted on our Department social media platforms regarding the ongoing conflict in Iran. 'This post was unacceptable, made in error, and does not reflect the views of Sheriff Robert G. Luna or the Department. 'As a law enforcement agency, we do not comment on foreign policy or military matters. Our mission remains solely focused on protecting public safety and serving our diverse communities.'
The department said it has 'launched an internal review to determine how it was created and published'. 'Steps are being taken to strengthen our social media oversight protocols and ensure that any future communications align with our Department's standards of professionalism, respect, and accountability,' they added.
But X users weren't satisfied, and many doubled down on their criticism of the department. 'I do not accept your apology,' one person wrote. 'The offensive post regarding the situation in Iran was deeply disrespectful, especially given the significant Jewish community of over half a million in Los Angeles. An internal review and updated protocols are insufficient to address the harm caused. 'rue accountability and respect must be demonstrated through meaningful action, not just words. I urge you to engage with the community to rebuild the trust you've broken.'
'Someone needs to be removed from your social media team and reprimanded. It was totally unacceptable post! In the private world, they'd be fired,' another person said. 'DID YOU APOLOGIZE TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY?' a third X user commented. 'I didn't see that here.' X users said the sheriff's office should focus on the chaos in their own backyard instead of getting involved in international issues. LA law enforcement officials are under the microscope for their handling of anti-ICE riots in the city which spiraled out of control on June 6.
Demonstrations were initially peaceful, but they escalated into lawlessness and violence when some protestors lit vehicles on fire and looted stores. Police and local politicians were heavily criticized for failing to preserve the peace. On June 14, the protests spread nationwide with 2,000 rallies organized across all 50 states by 'No Kings', a group which says it opposes 'authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy'.
Trump entered the conflict between Israel and Iran on Saturday night by using American warplanes to target Iranian facilities in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. Known as Operation Midnight Hammer, the strike involved more than 125 US military aircraft, along with submarines. Iran has warned that there will be repercussions , and Trump hit back by saying that any retaliation would be met with 'even greater force than what was unleashed today'.
The Middle Eastern country launched more missiles on Tel Aviv in Israel on Sunday morning, and Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen also said they would join the retaliation. There have already been hundreds of casualties.
Iran's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least 400 people and injured 3,000, while at least 24 people in Israel have died in missile strikes from Iran. The conflict escalated 10 days ago when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched attacks on Iran's nuclear and military strikes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
The ‘inappropriate' post over Iran that led the LA County Sheriff's Department to apologize
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) apologized for an "offensive and inappropriate" social media post regarding recent U.S. strikes in Iran. The initial post, published hours after U.S. bombings, referenced "victims and families impacted" despite no reported fatalities. The LASD faced significant public backlash, with social media users criticizing the statement as a "slap in the face" to the U.S. military. The department first edited the post, then issued a formal apology, stating the original message was "unacceptable, made in error, and does not reflect the views of Sheriff Robert G. Luna or the Department." The LASD is conducting an internal review into the post's creation and publication, and is reviewing its social media oversight protocols.
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Shelter in place ordered for Americans in Qatar amid growing fears of Iran retaliation
The US Embassy in Qatar has ordered Americans in the nation to 'shelter in place' as fears grow of an Iranian retaliation to the US strikes on Saturday night. The Embassy warned Americans to seek shelter 'out of an abundance of caution.' It did not say how long the shelter in place order is expected to last. There are up to 15,000 American residents in Qatar, and the United States also has 19 military facilities in the Middle East nation. Qatar has served as an intermediary between the United States and Iran in the past and was coordinating negotiations over Iran's nuclear resources earlier this month before Israel ended the talks by attacking Iran on June 13. This is a developing story, check back for updates.
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Iranian-Americans' praise Trump for bombing of their home nation
Iranian-Americans have backed President Trump's strikes on their home nation as they hope the intervention could trigger a revolt against the Ayatollah's regime. In Maryland, one of the largest Iranian communities in America where over 16,000 Iranian people live, residents have expressed a cautious optimism over the strikes. An Iranian-American DC resident called Alireza, who declined to give his second name, told the outlet that the news of Trump's 'bunker buster' bomb raid on three key Iranian nuclear weapon factories on Saturday night filled him with hope. He said world leaders in the past had ignored the oppression of the Iranian people at the hands of the regime, but after Trump's strikes, 'it shows that they can't do anything and they are weak.' Hashemi said that Iranian political identity has been 'deeply shaped by the fact that Iran has been on the receiving end and the humiliating end of external intervention.' '(This) created the social conditions for the 1979 revolution', he said, when the country's liberal shah was replaced by a hardline Islamic regime that remains in power to this day. Israel began bombing Iran last week in a bid to stop the country building nuclear weapons, after its leaders vowed to use them to obliterate Israel. On Saturday night, Trump dispatched B-2 bombers with huge 'bunker buster' bombs to try and destroy three nuclear weapons factories, including the infamous Fordow facility that sits buried under a mountain. Alireza and others hope that Trump's strikes will finally topple the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Pushing for regime change in Iran has long been avoided by US presidents, before Donald Trump on Sunday night stunned the Middle East again as he called to 'MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN.' In a shock post on Sunday night to Truth Social, Trump wrote: 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' The message from the president directly contradicted remarks from his top allies just hours earlier, with Vice President JD Vance telling ABC: 'We don't want to achieve regime change. We want to achieve the end of the Iranian nuclear program.' A majority of Republicans support America's entry into the war - but there has been vocal criticism too, from leading MAGA figures including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Steve Bannon. However, direct American intervention to end to the Ayatollah's regime is exactly what many Iranians in America are hoping for. Reza Rofougaran, a 72-year-old real estate broker in Maryland, told the Baltimore Sun that he emigrated from Tehran shortly after the 1979 revolution, and worked as a journalist in his home country before the regime censored his newspaper. After being randomly arrested on the street, he said he 'decided that no matter what, I'm going to leave the country and come back to the U.S.' He said he is '100 percent against the Islamic regime in Iran and hope for a regime change.' Rofougaran, a US citizen since 1997, added that he was unsure if American intervention would have the desired effect given past foreign policy struggles in the Middle East, and would 'prefer this regime goes down by the people of Iran themselves.' 'A good majority of Iranians' oppose the regime, he said, but at the same time they 'are saddened by these attacks.' 'I am not happy with any attack on my homeland,' he said. The divide between the desired outcome of regime change and skepticism over how to achieve it follows decades of US presidents floating strikes on Iran but backing down due to the risks involved, before Trump pulled the trigger on Saturday night. 'Unfortunately, no one helped us. Obama didn't help us. Biden didn't help us,' Rofougaran added. 'The current situation, actually, I'm sort of happy, that actually, Israelis start supporting Iranian people.' A National Iranian American Council survey of Iranian Americans shortly before Israel's strikes on Iran found that 53 percent strongly or somewhat opposed US military action. The number that strongly or somewhat supported American intervention stood at 36 percent. Trump's strikes did not target or kill any civilians in Iran. Experts say many Iranian-Americans fled to the US to escape persecution, with that life experience explaining their support for potential regime change. 'Many Iranian Americans are here fled the regime because of either economic deprivation or political persecution,' Nader Hashemi, the director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at Georgetown University, told the Baltimore Sun. Rofougaran said Iranians he has spoken to both in the US and his home country say they are 'happy' with the Israeli strikes 'because of the precise attack' that only killed or injured soldiers and no civilians. 'You are not attacking civilians, people. They are attacking the mullahs, the top [IRGC] commanders and the people in charge,' he said. Now, with the world waiting for Iran's response to the US strikes, he hopes the Iranian people will see the bombings as an opportunity to push for regime change. 'The whole thing is changing in 10 days,' he said. 'They want to have a peaceful government.'
