“The Walking Dead” star defends wearing a Blue Lives Matter shirt after fan backlash

Twitter/@YungBidenette

After a photo of “The Walking Dead” actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan sporting a Blue Lives Matter shirt surfaced online, fans have been criticizing him — leading him apologize.

Videos by Rare

In the picture, which Morgan posted and then deleted from Instagram, he poses with a fan while wearing a t-shirt that bears the Blue Lives Matter logo. Below it, he wrote a message:

Dear a–holes. Blue lives do matter. Can’t believe I need to explain to you this fact. All lives matter. All of em. This shirt was made in response to the cold blooded murder of two GOOD cops in NY, both that had immigrated to the US, and took an oath to protect and serve. This shirt was given to me at a convention by a woman, [whose] son, was shot during what was a routine traffic stop. He was black. I’m so tired of mean people. People who wake up in the morning, and I think, just sit behind the safety of their computers… anonymously… and start sh*t. Grow the f*ck up. The world has enough horrible things going on right now without your petty bullsh*t. Speaking of cops… I’d like to commend those in blue that saved countless lives in vegas. Those first responders saved hundreds… if not thousands. So you trolls…. go crawl under the rock in which you came. GOOD PEOPLE MATTER. You? Don’t.

RELATED: The mother of the stuntman who died on “The Walking Dead” has lawyered up

Blue Lives Matter, which started after the 2014 murders of Brooklyn police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, is a counter-movement to Black Lives Matter, which aims to put an end to police brutality and discrimination against African-Americans. According to the Daily Beast, some feel the Blue Lives movement “tries to detract from the importance of Black Lives Matter.” After deleting his post in support of the counter-movement, Morgan followed it up with an apology, which he has also since deleted:

I stand behind the sentiment… but, what was meant as one thing has been taken as another. I understand those that are upset… and to those people I apologise. Of course black lives matter. I stand behind that. Always have. This country means the world to me. The good people in it mean the world to me… the ones looking for a fight around every corner? Racists? Bullies? They don’t. We are a country divided and it’s getting scarier every day.

RELATED: “The Walking Dead” cast and producers pay tribute to fallen stuntman John Bernecker

What do you think?

A new bike and running path is coming to these four North Side ‘hoods

Miley Cyrus struggled to hold back tears while writing her thank you note to Hillary Clinton