FacebookDjango Unchained star Daniele Watts is defending her decision to refuse giving her ID to a cop during a run-in with police Thursday.
Last week, the actress was briefly detained by two LAPD officers when they responded to a citizen's complaint about indecent exposure. Watts insisted she and her boyfriend were only making out in their car. Watts was handcuffed by an officer and refused to provide identification because she claimed she did nothing wrong.
Now, Watts is standing her ground and defending her choice to not give her ID to the cop.
"I believe in America and what it stands for," Watts told CNN during a joint interview with her boyfriend Brian. "And I believe in freedom. I think that a country that calls itself the land of the free and the home of the brave—if I am within my amendment rights, my Constitutional rights, to say no, unless you're charging me with a crime, I will not be giving you my ID. That is a right I stand up for because of the shoulders that I stand on, because of the people who fought for the rights before me."
Watts says she regrets nothing about her run-in with police.
"I still feel strongly like I didn't have to [give them my ID]," she said of the incident. "I feel that it raises awareness. I'm thankful for the experience. Not to say that I feel like I have to go through it again, but it's causing a lot of discussion and I feel like that's the purpose of the media, of artists, of actors and celebrities, to talk about things and raise awareness so we can all decide what kind of society we want to live in."
Watts says "it doesn't matter how passionately [they] were making out" at the time the police call was made. "I don't feel like I should feel shameful for that or feel like I have to apologize for that," she said.