Mayor apologizes for remarks which angered Takei

Andrea Mandell | USA TODAY

Update: Roanoke Mayor David A. Bowers apologized Friday for praising the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, according to The Huffington Post. "I apologize to all those offended by my remarks," Bowers said at a special meeting of the Roanoke City Council, resisting calls for his resignation. "No one else is to be blamed but me."

The mayor noted surprise his remarks went viral. "I anticipated that the statement might receive some coverage in the Roanoke Valley, but I did not in any way anticipate that it would trend internationally over the Internet," he said. "It's just not in my heart to be racist or bigoted," he added. "My statement was intended to be respectful -- was intended to be respectful -- measured and moderate in tone and substance, but it fell short obviously."

Original story:

George Takei was so angered by a Virginia mayor's response the Syrian refugee crisis on Wednesday, he took to Facebook.

After the Paris attacks, a stream of state leaders have called for a moratorium on refugees from Syria, opposing President Obama's pledge that the U.S. will take in 10,000 Syrian refugees next year.

But it was comments made by the mayor of Roanoke, Va., David A. Bowers, justifying the use of Japanese internment camps in World War II, which drew Takei's ire.

On Wednesday, Bowers joined 26 state governors in objecting the admittance of refugees. In his letter, Bowers stated he is "reminded that Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and it appears that the threat of harm to America from Isis now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then."

The comparison drew a sharp rebuke from Takei, a Japanese-American who was born in Los Angeles and in 1942 was sent to an internment camp with his family.

Takei writes: "The internment (not a "sequester") was not of Japanese "foreign nationals," but of Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens. I was one of them, and my family and I spent 4 years in prison camps because we happened to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor. It is my life's mission to never let such a thing happen again in America."

He adds: "There never was any proven incident of espionage or sabotage from the suspected "enemies" then, just as there has been no act of terrorism from any of the 1,854 Syrian refugees the U.S. already has accepted. We were judged based on who we looked like, and that is about as un-American as it gets."

The Star Trek alum, who is currently starring in the show Allegiance on Broadway, closed by inviting the mayor to be his guest at an upcoming show.

You can read Takei's letter here: