Mary Bowerman

USA TODAY Network

Kalyn Chapman James, the first black woman to be named Miss Alabama, was placed on administrative leave by a Florida TV station Monday following a Facebook Live video where she called Dallas police shooter Micah Xavier Johnson a ‘martyr.’

WPBT2 South Florida PBS did not mention James by name, but said in a statement Monday that an independent contractor was placed on administrative leave while an internal investigation decides whether further action should be taken about the inflammatory comments regarding the Dallas shooting.

“The use of terrorism, violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims is never the right answer,” the station said in a tweet. "We do not condone any suggestion that terrorism is acceptable of that it should be tolerated.”

James, who was crowned Miss Alabama in 1993, told WPMI-TV that she has received multiple death threats since posting the Facebook live video on Sunday.

In the video, James said she felt guilty because she did not “feel sad for the officers that lost their lives,” when Johnson opened fire during a protest in Dallas. Johnson killed five police officers and wounded nine others during the ambush last Thursday.

“I can’t help but feeling like the shooter was a martyr,” she said in the video. “And I know it's not the right way to feel because nobody deserves to lose their lives, and I know those police officers had families.”

James said she didn’t mean to offend anyone with her comments.

"What Micah did was wrong period," James told WPMI. "Maybe martyr wasn't the right word, but it was what came to mind at that time."

James originally stood by her comments in a statement to AL.com, but during an interview with WPMI-TV, she said she didn’t mean to offend anyone.

First black Miss Ala. calls Dallas police shooter a 'martyr'

"I apologize to anyone who was offended by my comments," she told WPMI-TV. "My heart was not filled with hate."

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