LAPD probes recruiting ad on right-wing news site amid furor

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The Los Angeles Police Department is under fire after a recruitment ad appeared on the controversial and divisive conservative news website, Breitbart.

—BREAKING: Ex-Cop Amber Guyger found guilty in killing of Botham Jean—

On Saturday, the editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast, Noah Shachtman, questioned why the LAPD would launch an ad on a website with history of publishing hateful and contentious rhetoric.

Uhhhh why is the LAPD running recruitment ads on Breitbart?! pic.twitter.com/9gr1hnmy4o

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) September 28, 2019

The department has since initiated an investigation, ABC News reports.

“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 on Saturday.

Further, the department questioned the ad’s validity, and vowed to avoid similar situations in the future, officials wrote in a tweet.

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 HQ (@LAPDHQ) September 28, 2019

The LAPD followed up and blamed Google ads on choosing Breitbart as the site to advertise.

“The Personnel Department has not made any purchase of LAPD recruitment ads on Breitbart or similar sites. Recruitment ads were purchased through Google and ended up on sites that do not reflect the City’s values through automatic placement,” the recruitment account tweeted on Saturday.

“We have stopped these Google Ads altogether while we reexamine our ad filters and take all necessary steps to ensure tighter control of ad settings,” the recruitment team said in another tweet.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore spoke out to reiterate that his department that didn’t authorize the Breitbart ad.

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“No. LAPD did NOT purchase or otherwise acquire ad space on that website. Senior leadership at LA City Personnel Department also relayed they did not authorize or pay for this ad either. Both Depts investigating whether spoof/other effort to discredit LAPD,” he wrote in a tweet on Saturday.