INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana state representative apologized Tuesday for his recent controversial Facebook posts, saying he's committed to being a more positive person going forward.
Ind. Rep. Jim Lucas was criticized for a post he shared Sunday morning on his Facebook page.
The post is a meme of a police officer pepper-spraying a woman with the text "Participation trophies/now in liquid form!"
In the comments of the post, and in subsequent posts, Lucas had refused to apologize.
His apology came Monday evening on Facebook.
It reads, in part (read the full post at the bottom of the story):
In view of the recent issue of some of my personal Facebook posts, I want to issue a sincere apology to those that were offended by them. It certainly was not my intent to make light of domestic violence or violence towards women. These issues are something that we must continue to address and I genuinely regret that my posts were a distraction from these important issues.
...
I own this incident and accept full responsibility for it. I only ask that everyone think about the amount of vitriol that this lapse of judgement on my part has fostered and commit, as I am, to being a more positive person moving forward.
To show that he cares about women's causes, Lucas also sponsored a woman's firearms class in Columbus, Indiana. Through his sponsorship, the first ten women to contact the gun range will receive a free introductory self-defense class.
Lucas' apology has more than 300 comments, with some people thanking him for it and others criticizing him.
Brenda Chapin said:
Thank you for doing this. Yesterday I commented on your lack of judgment and today you have demonstrated how a leader behaves. Words matter, thank you for acknowledging that.
While Mike McHone said:
And one day for no particular reason we became offended by everything
Indiana state Sen. Jack Sandlin was also criticized for a post on his page. Sandlin said he doesn't know how it ended up there, and he was "horrified" when he saw it.
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Lucas' full apology post:
