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Actor and White House official Kal Penn, known for his role in the popular Harold & Kumar stoner flicks, shocked fans and critics of the controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy alike. Penn tweeted Tuesday (August 13) that the police tactic was “good policy” and refused to back down from his stance.

Penn’s spiral into supporting stop-and-frisk began after the he tweeted approval of New York mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s New York Post column, where it was stated the tactic has helped lower crime and homicides in the city. Tweeting, “Great op/ed by @MikeBloomberg on the merits of ‘stop-question-frisk,” Penn sparked a bevy of responses.

After one of his followers asked if he was trolling with sarcasm, he replied, “[N]ope. It’s a good policy. Sad to see such activist judges ruling against public safety.”

Refusing to concede to well-researched data that crime and violence had been in decline long before the NYPD’s xenophobic program, Penn continued to bark back at anyone who took umbrage.

In a terrible twist of irony, Penn was robbed in Washington at gunpoint on April 20, aka “420,” the so-called holiday for marijuana smokers. The former House co-star mentioned the incident and continued his support of the stop-and-frisk.

“[L]ol well already been a victim of violent crime. It’s a sound policy and we need to stop trying to get rid of it,” Penn tweeted in response to a user who wrote that said he should be stopped and frisked in order to change his mind.

Perhaps Penn is still a little hurt by getting gaffled on those rough D.C. blocks, and thinks police randomly rifling through the pockets of Black and Brown people with little reason will prevent future stickups.

Whatever his reasoning, he should stick with the facts versus supporting a largely ineffective policy that hasn’t done anything but divide New York and other cities.

[Props to The Atlantic]

Photo: Rex Features