COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) 鈥 Former President Donald Trump on Saturday said the footage of the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers is 鈥渉orrible鈥 and that the attack 鈥渘ever should have happened.鈥
鈥淚 thought it was terrible. He was in such trouble. He was just being pummeled. Now that should never have happened," Trump said in an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, a day after authorities released footage of the attack on the 29-year-old Black man after a traffic stop.
The comments were notable for Trump, who is running for the White House again and has a history of of people in police custody. He was president during the racial justice protests that emerged in the summer of 2020 following the in Minneapolis. At the time, he encouraging better police practices but has been criticized by some for failing to acknowledge what they consider systemic racial bias in policing.
Trump ultimately centered his 2020 reelection bid around a that emphasized support for law enforcement.
The newly released police holding down and beating Nichols for three minutes with their fists, boots and batons. The footage shows police screaming profanities at him while Nichols screams for his mother. Trump said Nichols calling out for his mother was 鈥渁 very sad moment.鈥
"That was really the point that got me the most, to be honest with you,鈥 he said.
Trump did not address the video in his campaign speeches in New Hampshire or South Carolina, the first stops of his 2024 presidential campaign.
The five former Memphis Police Department officers, who are also Black, have . The legal team for Nichols鈥 family has likened it to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.
Trump said Memphis Police were taking a 鈥渟trong step鈥 by disbanding the police unit involved in the attack, which was created to target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime.
鈥淟ook, the tape was perhaps not totally conclusive but, to me, it was pretty conclusive and it was vicious and violent and hard to believe 鈥 over a traffic violation," he said.
The beating renewed questions about the how fatal encounters with law enforcement continue to occur after repeated calls for change and a nationwide reckoning and scrutiny of policing after Floyd's murder. Trump condemned the killing at the time but also blasted protests that were were largely peaceful, though marred by outbursts of violence.
Trump tweeted about 鈥渢hugs鈥 in the Minneapolis protests and warned, 鈥淲hen the looting starts, the shooting starts.鈥 Twitter flagged the message as glorifying violence and Trump tried to walk back the comments.
When several thousand people demonstrated at Lafayette Park across from the White House, U.S. Park Police forcefully dispersed them with tear gas and flash bangs shortly before Trump walked across the park for a photo-op near near St. John鈥檚 Church, where he stood before cameras holding a Bible.
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Price reported from New York.
