Amber Liu, a solo performer and former member of the K-Pop group f(x), apologized for a "snap judgement" reaction she had about the recent viral video of a police officer confronting and detaining a black man who was eating a sandwich on a train platform.
The actual altercation occurred on November 4, when a police officer came up to the man on the Bay Area Rapid Transit train platform and told him that it was against the law to eat there; the man's friend filmed the incident on video. Per CNN, the man declined to give the officer his name, and the officer then detained him. More officers later arrived, and the man was handcuffed. In the aftermath of the video, BART's general manager has released a statement with an apology and the agency's version of events: "The officer was doing his job but context is key," it read. Meanwhile, according to BuzzFeed, people have staged "eat-ins" and protests at that station in solidarity with the man.
Amber Liu, however, sided with the officer when she was asked about the situation during a video on JustKiddingNews, Soompi reported. As a Twitter user's video shows, Amber says the man "deserved it," and she then adds, "You don't have to act like that toward a police officer…Know your rights, but show some type of respect."
Amber's comments caused backlash from fans who saw the situation as another example of racism and police discrimination in the U.S. On November 17, Amber tweeted an apology about her previous words. "I am so sorry. I saw a video clip, made an ignorant, snap judgement, and I majorly messed up. It was my fault for not being more aware of how systematic racism in the United States has continued and gotten worse while I spent the last 10 years overseas," she wrote. "I 100% do not stand for racism and discrimination. It angers me that he was singled out because of the color of his skin. It is completely unjust and I am so sorry for not seeing the whole situation and jumping to a conclusion."
She closed her note with support for Black Lives Matter, writing, "I'm so sorry I've negatively affected so many people because of my ignorance and I will continue to educate myself in the matter."
The note has resulted in a response from followers, and some noted that Amber still has work to do. "I hope you understand that you will have to earn back the trust of the community you’ve disrespected. i do hope you leaned from this," one person tweeted. Another person added, "Thank you for the apology Amber. Remember that it isn't wise to speak on things that you're not 100% educated on. Continue to educate yourself and become more aware of social issues."
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