"Arrow" star Stephen Amell is stepping away from the world of social media for a while after receiving negative backlash over his comments on Ahmed Mohamed - the 14-year-old high school student in Texas who was arrested by police Monday for bringing a homemade clock to school that his teacher reportedly mistook for a bomb.
The controversy began Wednesday after Amell tweeted, "Stereotyping Texas isn't any better than stereotyping Ahmed. Just so we're clear."
The actor comments were meant to defend the state of Texas. However, other social media users, who chime in on the #IStandWithAhmed movement, did not take kindly to Amell's words.
Amell later defended his perspective in a series of tweets, starting off by saying, "I can't believe I broke my rule and tweeted about an actual event. Staggering to remember that debates in 140 characters don't work."
He then stated, "What happened to Ahmed was terrible. Obviously. I happened to read a series of tweets pronouncing that this is a systemic problem in Texas, which is also profiling. It's profiling in a much less hurtful / destructive way... but it is profiling."
"I'm not apologizing or deleting the tweets. If you're outraged at an opinion it's because you're bored," Amell continued. "My wife (Cassandra Jean) is from Texas, I have extended family in Texas, and I've met thousands of Texans that are wonderful, polite individuals. This gave me an excellent opportunity to block several employees of a couple companies I don't like. That's exciting."
In his eighth and final tweet, Amell wrote, "Last thing: Ahmed's White House visit will be an awesome, awesome moment."
Unfortunately, social media began to question the authenticity of his words, which compelled the actor to post a 30-second video on his Facebook page, clarifying his previous comments.
"Didn't mean to offend anyone today," he said in the video. "Wasn't trying to equate things that are very, very different. Was simply trying to say that two wrongs don't make a right. I think I did offend people. I think the best thing to do in these scenarios is to go away for a little bit. So be well, I'll be back, that's it."
Mohamed, a lover of engineering and robotics projects, was released from custody. He received support from many social media users from Sophia Bush and Russell Simmons to President Obama and Hillary Clinton.
