MIAMI -- The mayor of North Miami Beach joined Haitian and Cuban leaders in denouncing a popular video game Monday, saying he wants the game off store shelves.

Mayor Joe Celestin, who is Haitian-American, joined activist groups and local attorneys in demanding the game "Grand Theft Auto" be banned from sale at Blockbuster Video and Wal-Mart stores.

Haitian and Cuban leaders in Miami have held protests since Saturday, including demonstrations Monday outside a Boynton Beach Wal-Mart, saying the game could encourage violence against their communities.

In "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," players embark on a series of missions taking them deep into the criminal underworld of the "glamorous, hedonistic metropolis of" 1980s-era Vice City -- a fictionalized city closely resembling Miami. Along the way, players kill drug dealers and police officers, pick up prostitutes and steal cars and heavy weapons, among other things.

Players portray an ex-convict hired to recover stolen drug money, facing a fictional Haitian mafia as well as biker gangs, "corrupt politicians" and "Cuban gangsters" along the way. At one point during the mission, players are encouraged to "kill the Haitians" and "kill the Cubans," during an armed standoff.

"People are targeted in this game by their class or by other stereotyping markers," said Jack Thompson, a local who is pushing for a national ban on the game. "That makes it less safe for the people in those categories to walk the streets in 'Vice City,' which is of course Miami in the game."

The activists say they fear the game could incite hate crimes against Haitian-Americans and Cuban-Americans and they want the federal government to ban the game, or at least prevent its sale to minors. The game is rated "T" for sale to teenagers.

They want retailers to stop selling the game, and parents to stop buying it. If that doesn't work, they say they plan to organize a nationwide boycott. They plan to picket outside Wal-Mart and Blockbuster video outlets in Miami on Monday and Boynton Beach later this week.

The protests are being organized by the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition, the Haitian American Community Council in Delray Beach and other groups. The groups said they also have the support of the Cuban American National Foundation.

"Does it concern us? Yes," CANF spokeswoman Mariela Ferretti told the Sun-Sentinel. "Is it fair to hardworking decent communities? No, it's not fair."

"This is America. This is not who we are. This is not what we promote," said U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-Pembroke Pines on Monday. Deutsch, who is running for the Senate, sent a letter to the stores urging them to stop sales.

State Rep. Phillip Brutus, D-North Miami, previously sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft asking him to "provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling distribution of the game in an effort to thwart hate crimes," by banning the game, and Celestin also wrote letters urging local stores to pull the game from their shelves.

Both Installments Of Game Spark Controversy

"Vice City" is the second game in the "Grand Theft Auto" series. The first installment, set in a fictionalized New York town called "Liberty City," sparked protests from New Yorkers and from residents of Miami's Liberty City, who said the game glorified violence and lampooned the Miami neighborhood as a virtual den of criminals.

The Liberty City version of "Vice City" was eventually banned in Brazil and was pulled off store shelves in Australia until the manufacturer agreed to delete some scenes of sexual violence. But the game proved to be wildly popular with gamers, selling more than $200 million since its debut in 2002.

The latest installment has also drawn criticism from New York officials and from the government of Haiti, which has threatened to sue the game's manufacturer, New York-based Rockstar Games, it's parent company, Take 2 Interactive Software Inc., and the game's distributors.

A Miami lawyer representing the Haitian government said the game violates the hate crime laws of Florida and other states.

"It's the kind of thing that has no business being sold because it's not just a game," attorney Ira Kurzban told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. "It's a teaching device for young kids and high school students. What is it teaching them? Violence, hatred and racism."

Wildly Popular Game

The Vice City series is wildly popular with gamers, and has been named one of the best computer games ever, by industry publications. The first game was released in 2002, and the latest game retails for around $30.

The game has racked up more than $260 million in sales so far. The new version has already sold more than 11 million copies.

Local fans defended the game this week, saying it's not the most violent on the market.

"Violent games don't make violent people,'' said Dave Kohn, 22, of Hollywood. "Ignorance is what causes people to do violent things.''

But game opponents point to the case in June of two Tennessee boys, aged 14 and 16, who claimed "Vice City" inspired them to shoot at semi-trailer rigs. The boys pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, endangerment and assault after shooting one man to death and seriously injuring a teenage girl during their escapades.

The families of the victims in that case filed a $246 million lawsuit against Rockstar and Take 2, also naming retailer Wal-Mart and Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., which markets the games.

Wal-Mart officials said they have no plans to stop selling the game. They say the games are "selling well," though they are limited to those aged 17 and older.

A spokesman for Take 2 Interactive Software Inc., said the company's products were never meant "to offend any ethnic group." The company also said statements made by characters in the game were taken out of context. Still, the manufacturer said on Monday that the objectionable statements will be removed from future versions of the game.

But Haitian-American leaders said that is not good enough, and they want the game off the shelves entirely.

"Today it is Haitians and Cubans. Tomorrow might be Jew, Italian, who knows?" said one protester on Monday.

Celestin said if the stores do not agree to stop selling the game, he will urge Miami-Dade county's 600,000 Haitian-Americans to cancel their Blockbuster video accounts.

"If blockbuster doesn't understand or doesn't have any respect for us, we will show them exactly how it is," he said.

Information from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.