NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Actor and New Orleans native Wendell Pierce is speaking out after his arrest for simple battery Saturday.
Police arrested Pierce at an Atlanta hotel in the early morning hours Saturday following a political argument with a woman.
TMZ reports that Pierce grabbed the woman’s hair and smacked her in the head. She was allegedly a Bernie Sanders supporter. Pierce has said he is a Hillary Clinton supporter.
Late Monday night, three tweets posted to Wendell Pierce’s verify Twitter account addressed the arrest.
“I regret that what started as a civil political discussion escalated to the level that it did.
Although what has been reported thus far differs in important respects from what actually occurred.
I have confidence that the judicial process will work as it should.”
Since the arrest, Pierce cancelled a commencement speech at Rutgers University in Newark.
Pierce is known for his roles in the HBO shows “The Wire” and “Treme”. He recently started in HBO’s film “Confirmation”.