Illinois to pull plate linked to white supremacy

CHICAGO — There was a palpable sense of shock in the voice of the man when told his Illinois license plate contains a symbolic number used by white supremacists.

“I had no idea that ... I had no idea,” the man said, tripping over his words during a telephone conversation with a Tribune reporter. “I am completely blown away, blown away and a little terrified. Because that is definitely not me by any stretch of the imagination . ... Holy (expletive)!”

On Tuesday, Twitter user @petegaines posted a picture on Twitter of the license plate “1488” and questioned why the state issued it.

“Hey @ILSecOfState why do you allow Nazis to get Nazi slogans on their Tesla’s personalized license plates?” @petegaines tweeted.

That number is combination of two figures celebrated by white supremacists. The first two numbers stand for “14 Words” and references the slogan, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The second two numbers, 88, represent the eighth letter in the English language —H— and when put together are meant to stand for “Heil Hitler.”

In an email to the Tribune, Pete Gaines defended his tweet.

“Regardless of whether or not someone espouses a white supremacist ideology, in an era where Nazis, fascists and racists have been emboldened to publicly and proudly display their hatred, driving around with a number that both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have singled out as white supremacist ‘hate speech’ on one’s license plate is going to invite scrutiny,” Gaines wrote.

Still, Gaines wrote that he was deleting the tweet “as I certainly don’t want any harm to come to anyone for something they were apparently unaware of.”

The owner of the Tesla said “1488” was just the number the state of Illinois assigned when a relative applied for license