{"id":317803,"date":"2026-06-24T06:10:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/317803\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T06:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:10:48","slug":"scottish-world-cup-fans-get-rude-awakening-from-miami-police-over-traffic-cone-stunt-theyre-obviously-not-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/317803\/","title":{"rendered":"Scottish World Cup fans get rude awakening from Miami police over traffic cone stunt: ‘They’re obviously not Boston’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Scotland fans discovered that Miami police officers might not be as relaxed as their Boston counterparts when it comes to one of the many World Cup stunts that have gone viral in recent days \u2014 putting traffic cones on local landmarks.<\/p>\n

There’s little doubt the country’s supporters \u2014 affectionately known as the “Tartan Army” \u2014 have left a lasting impression on the tournament.<\/p>\n

Scotland fans captured the hearts of Bostonians<\/a> in the first week of the World Cup when as many as 50,000 took over the streets and bars of the city for the country’s opening matches against Haiti and Morocco.<\/p>\n

Multiple videos of Scottish fans went viral, whether that was drinking bars dry, delighting baseball fans with a sing-along visit to Fenway Park or serenading Bostonians with the bagpipes.<\/p>\n

In keeping with a Scottish tradition, the fans also decorated some of Boston’s best-known landmarks with traffic cones, with the Arms of Friendship statue at the Charlestown Navy Yard and Revolutionary War hero John Glover receiving the cone treatment earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A statue of Mayor Kevin White with a traffic cone on his head is pictured in Boston.<\/p>\n

(Craig Williamson – SNS Group via Getty Images)\"A<\/p>\n

A statue of Samuel Adams with a traffic cone on his head is pictured in Boston.<\/p>\n

(Craig Williamson – SNS Group via Getty Images)\"Scotland<\/p>\n

Scotland fans adorned statues with traffic cones, sometimes posing with them.<\/p>\n

(Craig Williamson – SNS Group via Getty Images)’They’re obviously not Boston!’<\/p>\n

The Tartan Army’s love affair with Boston came to an end after their match against Morocco on Friday, with fans departing for Miami for their final group match clash against soccer giants Brazil.<\/p>\n

And two fans in particular got a slightly different reception when it came to putting bright orange cones on local landmarks.<\/p>\n

A video posted on Instagram by Lauren Witherspoon showed a fellow Scottish supporter placing a trademark traffic cone over the head of Juan Ponce de Le\u00f3n, the Spanish explorer who led the first European expeditions to Puerto Rico, in downtown Miami.<\/p>\n

It was not well-received by Miami police officers, who are heard beeping their patrol car horn in the video, urging the fan to remove the cone.<\/p>\n

A police officer can be heard shouting, “Get off of there!”<\/p>\n

Responding to the police request and removing the cone, the fan retorted: “They’re obviously not Boston!” Lauren added, “They need to lighten up a wee bit, but there’s still time for them. There’s still time!”<\/p>\n

Another Scot told the BBC that Boston had a more relaxed feel. “It was more happy-go-lucky. The police were happy to have us \u2014 you could do no wrong,” Steven Baird said. “I think here they might be a bit more strict. I got shouted at for jaywalking here.”<\/p>\n

It’s not all been bad in Miami, however, and elsewhere Scottish fans have been warmly welcomed by locals. Dressed in kilts, supporters sang “No Scotland, No Party” as they marched roughly one mile from a Miami bar to LoanDepot ballpark on Monday, creating a raucous atmosphere as the Marlins took on the Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n

“Lively out there tonight,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said after the game. “That was quite the atmosphere.”<\/p>\n

Marlins starting pitcher Tyler Phillips added: “If it was up to me, I would have us paying those people to show up to the games. That was unbelievable. Like, from the second I walked out and then up the dugout, I felt it in my chest. It felt great. … And man, if I ever see them, like if I’m ever out there, I got their backs.”<\/p>\n

Where does Scotland’s traffic cone tradition come from?<\/p>\n

Scotland’s fascination with humorous uses of traffic cones dates back many years.<\/p>\n

In Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, the Duke of Wellington statue at the Gallery of Modern Art has been wearing a cone at a jaunty angle since the 1980s.<\/p>\n

The practice became so ingrained that when Glasgow City Council, the local government, proposed raising the pedestal in 2013 to make the statue harder to reach, there was a public outcry. The idea was quickly dropped after thousands of people objected, arguing that the cone had become part of Glasgow’s cultural identity.<\/p>\n

While no one is sure where the prank started, the cone has since become an unofficial symbol of the city’s sense of humor, with Scotland fans often recreating the tradition during trips abroad.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A fan of Scotland wearing a traffic cone hat prior to the UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match between Germany and Scotland.<\/p>\n

(Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA)<\/p>\n

During the UEFA EURO 2022 tournament, fans were spotted wearing traffic cones around Munich in tribute to their antics.<\/p>\n

While Bostonians may have entertained the traffic cones for a few days, authorities did start removing the cones by Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Scotland fans discovered that Miami police officers might not be as relaxed as their Boston counterparts when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6647,132043,4288,132046,123,125,124,1738,132042,132044,132045,132041],"class_list":["post-317803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-boston","tag-craig-williamson","tag-downtown-miami","tag-lauren-witherspoon","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-police-officer","tag-scotland-fans","tag-scottish-fans","tag-scottish-tradition","tag-traffic-cones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}