Cole Sprouse doesn’t want his arrest to take attention away from BLM

Cole Sprouse, the child star from The Suite Life Zack and Cody, was actively joining the BLM protests when he was arrested. Today, he has quite the following with his CW hit Riverdale and, his new horror podcast, Borrasca. You may also know him from the emotional rollercoaster movie, Five Feet Apart. While all of this is great, the reaction of our celebrities to George Floyd‘s death has made our respect for them rise so much. The actor, 27, much like many others, was on the streets asking for the rights that our fellow African American community needs. However, for Cole and his fellow protesters, the protests backfired as he was arrested.

Cole Sprouse speaks out about his arrest.

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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. 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. 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. 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. I noticed that there are cameras that roll within the police cruisers during the entirety of our detainment, hope it helps. I’ll speak no more on the subject, as I’m (1) not well versed enough to do so, (2) not the subject of the movement, and (3) uninterested in drawing attention away from the leaders of the #BLM movement. I will be, again, posting the link in my story to a comprehensive document for donations and support.

A post shared by Cole Sprouse (@colesprouse) on Jun 1, 2020 at 1:14pm PDT

The actor did not want the attention to turn to him with such crucial issues going around right now. Cole Sprouse talks about how his BLM arrest is not about him. It is about his cause. His post starts with him saying the very words:

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.

So, he makes it clear he wants the tabloids to not divert their attention. He knows the African American community needs us all now more than ever. Cole Sprouse also talks about how he was arrested at the BLM protest.

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.

In his post, Cole Sprouse also says that the story of his arrest during the BLM is not about him.

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.

Cole Sprouse sums his post up saying that his intent is not to divert the attention from the BLM Movement. So, he posts donation links in his story to remind his followers of the real thing here.