Wendell Pierce Arrested In Atlanta On Suspicion Of Battery Following Heated Political Discussion

Actor Wendell Pierce was arrested in Atlanta on suspicion of simple battery in the early hours of Saturday morning over a disagreement about politics.

Wendell Pierce Arrested

Pierce, an outspoken Hillary Clinton supporter on Twitter, apparently got into a heated argument with a few Bernie Sanders supporters in the hallway at the Loews Hotel in Atlanta. He was subsequently booked on suspicion of simple battery, according to the Fulton County inmate records website. He was released later that same day upon posting $1,000 bail, reported the Los Angeles Times.

A purported eyewitness claims that Pierce tried to barge his way into the room of the alleged victims.

“I went to the door, and Maggie, and her boyfriend, and her cousin had just come in,” the source, who was sleeping in the hotel room, told the Daily Beast. “Her cousin is leaning her back against the door and feet against the wall trying to keep the door closed, and the boyfriend is trying to get Mr. Pierce’s hands off his girlfriend … He was trying to force his way into the room, and had a handful of Maggie’s hair, and yanking on the hair, and swinging his arm around.”

The source added of Pierce, “He then charged the door, again. He then kept swinging, and hit [Maggie] a couple times, fairly hard, on the side of her head and on top of her head. He never got fully in the room. But it was then that Maggie’s boyfriend shouted, ‘I’m gonna get a knife.’”

Pierce, in a police report, has claimed that the three alleged victims were actually the attackers and that they had tried to pull him into their room, according to TMZ.

On Twitter, Pierce, who is best known for starring in The Wire, released a statement expressing his regret for the chain of events, but maintains that details about the incident have been misrepresented.

“I regret that what started as a civil political discussion escalated to the level that it did,” said Pierce, who’s known for his work on “The Wire,” in a series of tweets. “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.”

I regret that what started as a civil political discussion escalated to the level that it did. (1/3)

— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) May 17, 2016

Although what has been reported thus far differs in important respects from what actually occurred, (2/3)

— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) May 17, 2016

I have confidence that the judicial process will work as it should. (3/3)

Wendell Pierce

— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) May 17, 2016