Texas won’t let man keep ‘LOKHMUP’ license plate; state says it’s offensive

A Texas man will no longer be allowed to keep his anti-Trump license plate after someone filed a formal complaint with the state, according to multiple reports.

His vanity plate features seven letters: “LOKHMUP.”

Bill Moore told KDFW-TV that it’s a twist on President Donald Trump’s phrase, “Lock her up,” which referenced Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“I want people to know how I feel,” Moore told KDFW. “I feel like he should be locked up.”

But last week Moore received a letter from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles informing him that the plate is considered offensive and will no longer be allowed.

“I’m not inciting violence. It’s just my thoughts that he is a criminal and that he needs to be locked up, just like in his rallies and he says that all these other people are criminals and that they should be locked up,” he said. “… It’s the same difference, only no one controls him. But yet I’m as a citizen being told that I can’t do the same thing.”

The Dallas resident said he came up with the idea after President Donald Trump was elected and the administration was accused of colluding with Russia.

He got the plate in March 2017 and renewed it earlier this year, according to KDFW.

What did the DMV letter say?

The Texas DMV letter said that it had “recently received a complaint” about his license plate, adding that it would be canceled because the plate’s message “may be viewed as derogatory.”

The state code defines derogatory as “an expression that is demeaning to, belittles, or disparages any person, group, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or refers to an organization that advocates such expressions.”

A DMV spokesperson for the DMV confirmed to KDFW that “LOKHRUP” is also not allowed for the same reasons.

What else?

Moore said he believes that he should be allowed to keep his plate.

“So he can say lock her up, but I can’t say lock him up? I don’t understand the difference,” Moore told the news station.

Moore plans to appeal the decision citing freedom of speech.

“We can’t let the government slowly chip away at our rights,” he said.