Evan Peters has apologized for retweeting a video that featured a police officer arresting a Black Lives Matter protester.
Peters stated that it was unintentional and that he “supports” Black Lives Matter “wholeheartedly.”
Evan Peters shares an arrest video on Twitter
When it comes to Twitter, actor Evan Peters isn’t a very active user. Most of his posts are just links to his Instagram page, so it might have shocked a lot of followers to see what he did.
The video that he retweeted was from a protest in Los Angeles that shows police chasing and tackling people. The video was also narrated by the person who shared it, which added to the controversy.
In the video, the narrator can be heard saying, “I can watch these piece of s**t looters get tackled all day!” The person then goes on to say, “Come on, get him!” as the police take down a protestor in the video.
Below is an image captured by another Twitter user of Peters retweeting the video. Peters has since taken down the video.
evan peters doesn’t even come on twitter but he came on here to make sure we knew he was trash pic.twitter.com/ftSTDEf4YW
— ༺ACAB༻ (@imcanceIed) June 2, 2020
Evan Peters responds to the backlash on Twitter
At one point, his name was trending on Twitter, which preceded Peters taking the video off his Twitter page. A short time later, he came back to apologize.
Peters wrote, “I don’t condone the guy watching the news at all in the video, which I have deleted. I unknowingly retweeted it. I’m deeply upset it got on my newsfeed. I sincerely apologize if anyone was offended. I support black lives matter wholeheartedly.[sic]
Peters posted a blacked-out image in a separate tweet, denoting that he was supporting the BLM movement. Both tweets are shared below:
I don’t condone the guy watching the news at all in the video which I have deleted. I unknowingly retweeted it. I’m deeply upset it got on my newsfeed. I sincerely apologize if anyone was offended. I support black lives matter wholeheartedly.
— Evan Peters (@Evan_Peters) June 2, 2020
— Evan Peters (@Evan_Peters) June 2, 2020
Peters also shared the blacked-out image on his Instagram page, but a lot of people do not believe the sincerity of his posts and have let him know.
On his Instagram page, one user noted, “right after retweeting a video of a guy making fun of arrestations during the protest ? yikes.”
Another user posted, “you JUST retweeted a tweet about looters getting attacked, and then you post a black image with no caption??? what kind of activism is this?? do something with your platform evan.”
Others said “BYE YOU CANT FOOL US” and “nah because you were wrong for what you did,” echoing the sentiments that a lot of people on social media are feeling about Peters sharing that video.
Peters — who is one of the stars of American Horror Story and the X-Men franchise — might have to do a lot of work to do if he wants people to believe his explanation that it was an accident.