‘Bachelorette’ star Garrett Yrigoyen backs police amid protests: ‘Can't judge all by actions of some bad ones'
Garett Yrigoyen of 'The Bachelorette' fame has shown support for law enforcement officers amid nationwide protests over the tragic death of George Floyd.
The 31-year-old TV personality took to Instagram on Thursday, June 4, to share his message, Us Weekly reports.
“I’ve been pretty tore up the past week about everything going on. I’ve listened, learned, helped, supported, and grown," he wrote. "With so many friends and family in law enforcement, I couldn’t sit back and not support them and the hundreds of thousands of men and women of all races that represent this Thin Blue Line as well."
“It’s important for me to recognize the ones who stand in the gap and put their lives on the line each and every single day for humans of different race and ethnicity, including those who hate them," he continued. "The Thin Blue Line represents each officer protecting protestors, properties, and businesses while being threatened, attacked, shot at, hit with vehicles, and other forms of brutality."
“There have been over 300 injured, shot, or killed in just one week," Yrigoyen explained. "They are suffering the consequences over an act they didn’t commit. They continue to put in overtime away from their families, stay silent while being threatened, hated, and assaulted.”
The former reality TV star urged his more than 700k Instagram followers not to “judge an entire group of people by the actions of a few.”
“We can’t judge the peaceful protesters by the actions of the few violent protesters, and we sure can’t judge all cops by the actions of a few bad ones,” he wrote. “Remember when they put on the badge they’re still humans, with raw emotion, the more brutality they face the more on edge they become, they make mistakes, they have compassion, and no matter how terrible they are treated or whatever negative is said to them, they still show up for us when we need them!”
Yrigoyen, who got engaged to Becca Kufrin in 2018, concluded, “Remember these men and women who hold this Thin Blue Line; strangers, friends, family, neighbors, or your enemies. They will always be out there protecting us, no matter what! #thinblueline #antiracism #antibrutality.”
The former medical sales representative had participated in 'Blackout Tuesday' just two days earlier. The initiative encouraged Instagram users to step away from social media for a day and educate themselves about the Black Lives Matter movement. It was held in the wake of nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, a black father-of-two who died last Monday in Minneapolis after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes despite his pleadings that he was unable to breathe.
That said, several Instagram users pushed back on Yrigoyen in the comments section, saying he was “totally missing the point” of the ongoing protests. However, some appeared to support his stance.
Mike Johnson, who shot to fame after competing on Hannah Brown’s season of 'The Bachelorette' in 2019, responded saying, “As a veteran, I truly sympathize for those wearing the uniforms that symbolizes [sic] protecting us yet some of their brothers/sisters in arms have made it a difficult/dangerous time for all involved.”