Made in Chelsea star Stephanie Pratt has defended a tweet in which she urged police to shoot looters.
Pratt, who rose to fame on the MTV reality series The Hills, expressed disgust at the looting which has taken place across the US in recent days. Riots and protests have been sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a man filmed being pinned to the ground by a police officer’s knee while pleading for his life.
“Get it together America,” Pratt tweeted on Sunday night (31 May). “Anyone else sobbing watching their town burned down? Where the f**k is the National Guard? Santa Monica is burning!”
“Shoot the looters,” she added. “Using this tragedy as their excuse to rob and burn all of our towns down.”
Pratt’s tweet was met with significant backlash, particularly after it was brought to attention that Pratt herself had once been charged with second degree theft after shoplifting $1,300 (£1,042) of clothing from a Neiman Marcus store in 2006.
Fifteen hours after her initial tweet, Pratt appeared to defend her statement, claiming that she meant no harm to peaceful protesters.
“There’s some confusion between the words looter and protester on the news,” Pratt wrote. “The protesters are trying to make changes and end decades long police violence, which we ALL WANT. We love them.”
Pratt then added: “Looters, however, are a**holes.”
A number of celebrities have weighed in on the continued anti-police brutality protests to occur in the US, UK and Europe.
Lana Del Rey was criticised for sharing images of protester’s faces, with pop star Tinashe tweeting at Del Rey: “Why the f*** you posting people looting stores on your page, literally WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM.”
