‘Reacher’ Star Alan Ritchson Fires Back at Cops Who Trolled Him Online

Alan Ritchson, the titular star of Prime Video’s Reacher series, has been known to share his political opinions despite how they may conflict with those of the show’s conservative fan base. And even though some viewers have threatened to stop watching the popular streamer series in protest of Ritchson’s “woke” comments, he’s doubling down on his message of police accountability in a post to Instagram this week.

The digs aimed at Ritchson were related to an interview he did with The Hollywood Reporter this month, in which he addressed the online stir amongst Reacher fans after an old photo of him wearing an “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” tee shirt resurfaced: “Cops get away with murder all the time, and the fact that we can’t really hold them accountable for their improprieties is disturbing to me,” he said in the interview. “We should completely reform the way that we do it. I mean, you shouldn’t have to spend more time getting an education as a hairstylist than as a cop who’s armed with a deadly weapon.”

The National Fraternal Order of Police caught wind of Ritchson’s comments and posted a photo of the actor to its Instagram page, calling him a “useless Hollywood actor” who is “virtue signaling for attention at the expense of brave police officers.” Ritchson responded to the post on Tuesday, calling it a “concerning” display of “emotional immaturity” in his lengthy reply.

Read more at The Daily Beast.