“This is, and will be, a time about standing ground near others as a situation escalates, providing educated support, demonstrating and doing the right thing.”
Riverdale actor Cole Sprouse has revealed that he, along with several others, was arrested during a protest against police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
On Instagram, Sprouse wrote about being arrested during the Santa Monica protest, where he said, “A group of peaceful protesters, myself included, were arrested yesterday in Santa Monica.”
“So before the voracious horde of media sensationalism decides to somehow turn it about me, there’s a clear need to speak about the circumstances: Black Lives Matter. Peace, riots, looting, are an absolutely legitimate form of protest. the media is by nature only going to show the most sensational, which only proves a long standing racist agenda.”
He continued, “I was detained when standing in solidarity, as were many of the final vanguard within Santa Monica. We were given the option to leave, and were informed that if we did not retreat, we would be arrested. When many did turn to leave, we found another line of police officers blocking our route, at which point, they started zip tying us.”
Then, Sprouse used the opportunity to shine a light on both his use of white privilege in acting as an ally, but how his arrest was treated differently to his black counterparts.
“It needs to be stated that as a straight white man, and a public figure, the institutional consequences of my detainment are nothing in comparison to others within the movement. This is ABSOLUTELY not a narrative about me, and I hope the media doesn’t make it such,” he wrote.
“This is, and will be, a time about standing ground near others as a situation escalates, providing educated support, demonstrating and doing the right thing. This is precisely the time to contemplate what it means to stand as an ally. I hope others in my position do as well.”
According to Buzzfeed News, the 27-year-old actor was part of “a few dozen protesters who were gathered on Broadway in downtown Santa Monica, holding signs decrying the death of George Floyd and chanting ‘I can’t breathe.'”
The report continues that, after that demonstration, another group “descended on the Third Street Promenade, a tourist-heavy shopping district near the beach” and “started vandalizing, looting, and destroying shops and restaurants”.
(And, to Sprouse’s point—a valid form of protest, more on that here.)
Buzzfeed News also recounted David Brown, a protester arrested with Sprouse, who said, “We tried to leave because a cop said if we went one way we could go but then they didn’t let us leave.”
“I was shocked and traumatised by the whole thing because I was there to witness, to document. The whole time police were settings up to arrest us. In hindsight, the curfew was 4 p.m. and at that point we were breaking the law, but I wish he would have just said you and leave now or you can be arrested.”
After his post, Sprouse shared a list of resources where you can donate and support the movement, which you can find here.
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