Fox News’ Ford Explorer made the mistake of looking too much like a Police Interceptor during the LA protests
Ford’s Police Interceptor Utility is the nearly-ubiquitous police crossover vehicle based on the Explorer. Think modern police car and you’re probably imagine it already. If you have an especially heavy accelerator foot–or conscious–you may have noticed the huge number of civilian Ford Explorers with steel rims, chrome delete packages, and basic white, silver, or black paint that look uncannily like an Interceptor Utility. While one such crossover just got a heaping dose of undeserved car-ma.
Los Angeles’ Fox affiliate news network drove to downtown Paramount, California to cover the anti-ICE protests on June 8th. The Fox 11 team parked its Ford Explorer ST-Line at a nearby box store. The SUV is finished in an official-looking “Carbonized Gray.” Sure, it has roof rack rails–which no Interceptor Utility shares. And its a 2025 Explorer, which has an updated grille no Police Utility got. But that wasn’t enough to protect it.
The Fox 11’s Ford Explorer becomes collateral damage
The Fox News team covered the protest, then trooped back through the parking lot to drive home. Someon had slashed the Ford Explorer’s tires. They also smashed a couple of windows. And to add insult-to-injury they stole the news team’s personal items.
Were these hooligans just angry at Fox 11? Probably not. They spray painted “F— ICE” on the passenger side door.
Ironically, one of Fox 11’s big news stories had been the protesters vandalizing federal property and vehicles–and President Trump overriding the Governor to deploy the National Guard in response. In addition to cop cars, the protestors also destroyed automated Waymo taxis. It looks like the innocent Ford Explorer was more unfortunate collateral damage. You can see the car yourself in the video embedded below:
