Ant Middleton has said he is "anti-racist and anti-violence" after he deleted a tweet in which he referred to Black Lives Matter protesters as "absolute scum".
Ant Middleton says he is anti-racist after Black Lives Matter tweet
The SAS: Who Dares Wins star apologised after he commented on the violent protests that have taken place in London, reportedly writing on Twitter: "The extreme left against the extreme right. When did two wrongs make a right. It was only a matter of time. BLM and EDL are not welcome on our streets, absolute scum. What a great example you are to your future generation. Bravo."
He quickly deleted the post and shared a video in which he apologised for causing offence and said he did not mean to compare the two groups.
He wrote: "Posting a message in relation to a tweet I took down over the weekend. I took it down immediately but I wanted to make sure I've been clear and upfront about why I took it down…"
In the video, he said: "I'd just like to clarify a tweet I put out this weekend and deleted straight away, once I re-read and realised it could cause offence.
"I put out a tweet, retweeted a video of the violence, the terror, the chaos that was happening on the streets of London and within that tweet I mentioned the BLM and the EDL and the word 'scum'.
"At no point was I calling the BLM scum and comparing the two organisations. I want to make that really clear.
"The word 'scum' was used to describe the people in the video that were violent, that were causing terror on the streets of London, and setting a bad example for our future generation.
"I was angry and just wanted to get that tweet out to say that was unacceptable. For those of you who know me, I'm a people's person, I love people, I'm anti-racist and I'm anti-violence, having lived and seen what violence does to people and cities and countries.
"So I apologise if my tweet came across as offensive. I never meant for that. I'm here to push positive change."