Taraji P. Henson apologizes to Glendale police over racial profiling allegation

Actress Taraji P. Henson has apologized to the Glendale Police Department after accusing an officer of racially profiling her son.

GLENDALE, Calif. (KABC) -- Actress Taraji P. Henson has apologized to the Glendale Police Department after accusing an officer of racially profiling her son.

Henson, who plays the no-nonsense music matriarch on the hit TV show "Empire," posted a statement on Instagram Friday afternoon.

"A mother's job is not easy and neither is a police officer's," Henson wrote on Instagram. "Sometimes as humans WE over react without gathering all of the facts. As a mother in this case I over reacted and for that I apologize.

"Thank you to that officer for being kind to my son," Henson wrote.

Henson told Uptown Magazine that her 20-year-old son, Marcell Johnson, was racially profiled in Glendale, where she alleged police pulled him over and illegally searched his car.

"It was bogus because they didn't give him the ticket for what he was pulled over for," she told the magazine.

Following the allegations, Glendale Police Department Sgt. Tom Lorenz said that Henson did not file any complaints of racial profiling with the department. Lorenz also stressed that the Glendale Police Department was one of the first departments in the nation to record audio of officer's interactions with citizens and has been doing so for years.

The video of the traffic stop near Doran Street and Brand Boulevard on Oct. 18 was released on Friday.

Johnson was pulled over for driving through a lighted crosswalk while a pedestrian was walking in it. In the video, Johnson is seen giving his information to the officer. The officer then asks Johnson if he has anything illegal in the car. Johnson acknowledges that he has marijuana in his backpack and is cited for having it without a valid prescription.

"I appreciate you being honest to me about the weed. I do appreciate that because I do smell weed, so thank you for being honest about that," the officer tells Johnson.

The officer did not cite Johnson for the traffic violation or for having Ritalin without a prescription, but confiscated the marijuana.

"I'm not going to give you a citation for running that yellow because that would actually put a moving violation on your driver's license, and you're going to have to do traffic school and all that stuff, so I'm helping you out by not giving you a violation on that. All I'm going to do is take the weed from you," the officer tells Johnson.

Glendale police Chief Robert Castro released the following statement Friday regarding Johnson's traffic stop: "Marcell Johnson admitted to having marijuana, an infraction and Ritalin without a prescription, a felony. Marcell consented to a search of the vehicle. During the search, the officers found marijuana, honey oil (concentrated marijuana), a marijuana grinder and a knife. The Ritalin was not located. A drug recognition officer conducted a field sobriety test and determined that Marcell was not driving impaired. The officers used significant discretion and only cited Marcell for possession of Marijuana since he stated he was leaving the state to attend a new college."

Henson apologized Friday to the officer and the Glendale Police Department after the video was released.

In the interview with Uptown Magazine, Henson also said her son was racially profiled near the University of Southern California campus. She said she decided not to send her son to USC after he was stopped "for having his hands in his pockets."

So instead of USC, the actress is sending him to her alma mater, Howard University, a historically black college.

"I'm not paying $50K so I can't sleep at night wondering is this the night my son is getting racially profiled on campus," Henson told the magazine.

The actress' apology Friday did not mention USC.