Former President Donald Trump has condemned the actions of the police officers who fatally beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols to death in Memphis earlier this month.
Nichols was beaten by five police officers on January 10 and died in the hospital three days later.
The body camera footage of the beating was released to the public on Friday night, sparking large protests in multiple cities.
Speaking to the Associated Press in South Carolina on Saturday, Trump said that it “should never have happened.”
“I thought it was terrible. He was in such trouble. He was just being pummeled. Now that should never have happened,” Trump said.
Trump also told the outlet that Nichols screaming for his mother was “a very sad moment.”
Nichols was on his way to dinner at his mother’s house and was assaulted very close by.
“That was really the point that got me the most, to be honest with you,” Trump said.
AP says that “Trump said Memphis Police were taking a ‘strong step’ by disbanding the police unit involved in the attack, which was created to target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime.”
“Look, the tape was perhaps not totally conclusive but, to me, it was pretty conclusive and it was vicious and violent and hard to believe — over a traffic violation,” he said.
Joe Biden has also condemned the beating but brought race into it — even though all of the officers are black.
“Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols’ death,” Biden said in a statement after the videos were released to the public. “It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day.”
“My heart goes out to Tyre Nichols’ family and to Americans in Memphis and across the country who are grieving this tremendously painful loss,” Biden said. “The footage that was released this evening will leave people justifiably outraged. Those who seek justice should not to resort to violence or destruction. Violence is never acceptable; it is illegal and destructive. I join Mr. Nichols’ family in calling for peaceful protest.”
All five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — have already been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, among other charges.