American civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton has launched an attack on television personality Jeremy Clarkson over the Brit's controversial Meghan Markle column published in The Sun last week.
A former judge has also written to the Metropolitan police, claiming Clarkson's column incites racial hatred. But police say no offence has been identified.
In his column, Clarkson said he "hated" the Duchess of Sussex on a "cellular level" to the point he was unable to sleep and hoped she would be "made to parade naked through the streets" while people threw excrement at her.
He's since said he is "horrified" at the "hurt" created by his writing. The column has become the Independent Press Standards Organisation's most complained-about article and has been pulled from The Sun.
But well-known civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton has now weighed in, condemning Clarkson's comment.
"We condemn these racist and dehumanising actions in the strongest possible terms," he told The Independent.
"They represent the vilest of the evil angels of our society and must find no refuge in the media. We join the calls for all people of goodwill in the US and abroad to stand united in this condemnation and demand for accountability."
The Independent also reports Peter Herbert, a former judge who now chairs the Black Society of Lawyers, has written to the Metropolitan police asking for Clarkson to be investigated on the grounds his piece incites racial hatred.
"Given the scale and degree of race hate crime targeted at the Princess [sic] of Sussex, and the previous offensive conduct of Jeremy Clarkson, who is an individual who knows exactly what he is saying and the likely consequences of his editorial being published in the Sun newspaper, there is clear evidence of intent."
The Met have confirmed they received the letter as well as other complaints about Clarkson's column. But they found "no offences have been identified and no further action will be taken".
In a statement posted on Twitter on Monday, Clarkson said: "Oh dear. I've rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people."
"I'm horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future," added Clarkson, who is known for being outspoken and controversial.