Iowa DOT asks driver to change ‘M3INKPF’ plates after Nazi reference complaints

Iowa Department of Transportation officials have asked a driver to change their personalized license plates after receiving complaints alleging the plates are a reference to Adolf Hitler’s political manifesto “Mein Kampf.”

It’s not uncommon to see personalized license plates on the streets of Iowa, but one plate that read “M3INKPF” caught the attention of state officials after it sparked outrage on Reddit, a social media network, when a user posted a photo of a car displaying the plates on a busy road on Thursday.

Mein Kampf, translated to “My Struggle,” is a political manifesto written by the Nazi Party leader and published in 1925. The manifesto has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.

The plate was seen on a BMW, a popular German automaker that has admitted to having ties with the Nazi Party during World War II. Prisoners of the Schutzstaffel, a paramilitary Nazi organization, were put to work for BMW in 1941 and inmates from concentration camps were forced to become laborers in 1942, according to the BMW Group’s website. Around 29,000 forced laborers made up 50% of BMW’s workforce by the end of 1944.

Some of the users on the social media post defended the plate’s message, claiming it was a reference to the BMW’s M3 model and the maker’s factory generated software called WinKFP. However a majority claimed it was a direct reference to the manifesto.

Officials received at least three complaints in addition to being tagged about the plate on social media, Andrea Henry, spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Transportation, told the Des Moines Register. The DOT has asked the driver to a choose a different license plate message.

More: Iowans love their vanity license plates. Here are the stories of how some got theirs.

According to the department’s administrative rules regarding personalized plate messages, there should not be a term of vulgarity, contempt, prejudice, hostility, insult or racial or ethnic degradation when choosing a license plate message.

All drivers who want vanity plates must submit an application and explain the meaning of the plate. Henry said the provided explanation was unrelated to Hitler’s manifesto. It said: “bmw-m3 for me ink my personal friends at a tattoo artist.”

The plate was issued approximately mid-May of this year, Henry said. She declined to provide the Register the name or contact information of the driver who requested the plate as that information is confidential under the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.

José Mendiola is a breaking news reporter for the Register. Reach him at jmendiola@dmreg.com.