Twins' Max Kepler sorry for Blue Lives Matter mask amid Minneapolis protests

Twins right fielder Max Kepler sayshis upbringing made him ignorant of why the Blue Lives Matter pro-police movement is controversial,and he later apologized for taking a selfie while wearing a mask that displayed the movement's logo.

Kepler said in a Twitter reply (per the New York Daily News) that police in his native Germany wear green. He later posted a longer explanation/apology on his Instagram story, in which he saidhereceived the mask from a company to wear during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"I had no idea that mask had any underlying inferences — I simply thought it looked good," he wrote.

"I take complete responsibility for not knowing what I was wearing," he added.

Kepler posted the mask photo the same week rioting and looting broke out in Minneapolisover the videotaped killingofGeorge Floyd by city police. Floyd, a black man, died after formerOfficer Derek Chauvin, who is white,kept his knee on Floyd's neck forseveral minutes, cutting off Floyd's oxygen supply,as he detained him following acall for a possible check forgery.

"Racism has no place in our world and I do not in any way support the actions that we all witnessed thatled to George Floyd's passing," Kepler wrote.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo fired Chauvin and the three other officers who responded to the call.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freemansaid Thursdaythat his office is still reviewing evidence related to the incident.

The Twins issued a general statement Thursday pledging to continue efforts to create "one, all-inclusive Twins Territory, where everyone is protected, safe and welcome."

Kepler, 27, has been playing professionally in the United States since 2010, the year afterthe Twins signed him as an international free agent. The Blue Lives Matter movement was founded in 2014 as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement. He debuted with the Twins in 2015 and has been playing with them full time since early in the 2016 season.