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Taraji P. Henson

Source: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images / Getty

Taraji P. Henson has apologized to a California police department for claims she made an officer racially profiled her son. The Empire scene stealer made headlines over an interview she gave to Uptown magazine last month. Taraji revealed she decided to send her son Marcel Johnson, 20, to her alma mater, Howard University instead of the University of Southern California (USC) after she alleged her son was targeted by a police officer for being black.

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Taraji stated:

My child has been racially profiled. He was in Glendale, California and did exactly everything the cops told him to do, including letting them illegally search his car. It was bogus because they didn’t give him the ticket for what he was pulled over for. Then he’s at University of Southern California, the school that I was going to transfer him to, when police stopped him for having his hands in his pockets. So guess where he’s going? Howard University. I’m not paying $50K so I can’t sleep at night wondering is this the night my son is getting racially profiled on campus.

The Los Angeles Times obtained footage of the Oct. 18 incident from the Gendale Police Department, where it revealed Johnson drove through a crosswalk while a pedestrian passed. The officer pulled Johnson over, and explained he was stopped for running a red light. The officer also asked Johnson if he had any illegal substances on him, where he admitted he had marijuana on him, but didn’t have his medical prescription with him. The officer cited Johnson for not having a valid prescription but bypassed, giving him a citation for the traffic violation. Watch the video below.

Taraji apologized to the officer and the police department on Instagram, and admitted she overreacted before she got all the information. Taraji remarked in the caption:

#TurningANegativeIntoAPositive #LoveTarajiPHenson

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