What the Heck? LAPD Takes Shot at Breitbart After Leftist Outrage Over Recruitment Advertisements Appearing on the Website
The Los Angeles Police Department took a swipe at Breitbart News following leftist outrage that a recruitment ad for the department appeared on the right-wing website.
The drama began when Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief Noah Shachtman took a screenshot of the advertisement and tweeted it out on Friday.
The tweet quickly went viral, prompting the Los Angeles Police Department to respond directly to Shachtman’s tweet.Uhhhh why is the LAPD running recruitment ads on Breitbart?! pic.twitter.com/9gr1hnmy4o— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) September 28, 2019
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) September 28, 2019
Despite the fact that Breitbart News is one of the most pro-police news outlets out there, the LAPD was quick to condemn the site.
“The LAPD celebrates diversity and embraces it within our ranks, and within the city we serve. We are aware that a recruitment advertisement has been circulated on a website that creates a negative juxtaposition to our core values,” the department tweeted. “We take matters like this very seriously, and have begun an initial inquiry into the matter and to determine its validity, as well as what future steps can and will be taken to avoid this situation occurring in the future.”
LAPD Chief Michel Moore tweeted on Saturday that the department would be investigating how the ad ended up on the site, and if it was a “spoof/other effort to discredit LAPD.” He claimed that the department had not purchased the ad and neither did senior leadership at LA City Personnel.
No. LAPD did NOT purchase or otherwise acquire ad space on that website.— Chief Michel Moore (@LAPDChiefMoore) September 28, 2019
Senior leadership at LA City Personnel Department also relayed they did not authorize or pay for this ad either.
Both Depts s investigating whether spoof/other effort to discredit LAPD https://t.co/FJfMyx19DT
Moore’s statement was echoed by the Twitter account for LAPD’s personnel department.
The Personnel Department has not made any purchase of LAPD recruitment ads on Breitbart or similar sites.— Join LAPD (@joinlapd) September 28, 2019
Recruitment ads were purchased through Google and ended up on sites that do not reflect the City's values through automatic placement. @LAPDHQ
Breitbart spokeswoman Elizabeth Moore responded to the controversy by telling the Los Angeles Times that the publication is “one of the most pro-police, pro-law-enforcement news organizations in America.”
