Days after receiving heavy criticism for a social media post, Montana cowboy and Professional Bull Riding world champion Jess Lockwood has issued an apology.
Lockwood and his brother, Jake, received backlash on Twitter after posts from both contained insensitive comments toward Native Americans.
One day after the PBR World Finals concluded in Las Vegas where Jess Lockwood was competing, a tweet was sent from his verified Twitter account that read: “So Jake literally pissed his pants laughing at this rezzer that stopped us outside the Indian depot,” followed by a laughing emoji with tears streaming down its face.
One minute later, a tweet was posted from the account of Jake Lockwood that read: “Drunk rezzer- can i ask you a favor? Me- ya what do you need? Drunk rezzer- what do i need?…i got water! #noDAPL #WaterIsLife”
#noDAPL is a hashtag that was popular during protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, which galvanized tribes from around the region in support of the Standing Rock Sioux’s claims their water quality was threatened.
#WaterIsLife was another popular hashtag from those protest in 2016 and 2017.
Both tweets were deleted but not before other Twitter users captured the statements on screen grabs and launched heavy criticism at the high-profile Montana cowboys.
Later Thursday, Jess Lockwood posted this apology on his Facebook page:
Earlier this week in a tweet,
I used an inappropriate and insensitive word. I am sorry for my actions and assume full responsibility. I realize that I made a mistake, I should never use that term or any other term that is demeaning. I have learned a lot in short time from this. I have many Native American friends, several of whom live on reservations in Montana and many who I compete against week in and week out. I did not intend to offend anyone and it won’t happen again.
Asking for your understanding and forgiveness,
Jess Lockwood
