Trump says death of George Floyd 'should never be allowed to happen,' vows swift justice

President Trump on Friday said the death of George Floyd "should never be allowed to happen," and vowed swift justice in the case of Floyd, an African-American man who died while in Minnesota police custody.

"It's a local situation, but we're also making it into a federal situation, and it's a terrible thing" Trump said Friday at the White House. "We all saw what we saw, and it's very hard to hard to conceive of anything other than what we did see. It should never happen, it should never be allowed to happen, a thing like that. But we're determined that justice be served."

Trump said he spoke to members of the Floyd family "terrific people," and that "we'll be reporting as time goes by."

Trump on Wednesday announced that he asked federal authorities to expedite the investigation into the death of Floyd.

Trump on Friday said he supported the right to peaceful protesters to express their concerns about Floyd's death.

"We can't allow a situation like happened in Minneapolis to descend further into lawless anarchy and chaos, and we understand that very well," Trump said. "It's very important, I believe, to the family, to everybody, that the memory of George Floyd be a perfect memory. Let it be a perfect memory. The looters should not be allowed to drown out the voices of so many peaceful protesters. They hurt so badly what is happening, and it's so bad for the state and for that great city." 

Trump said he was working "very closely" with the Justice Department, local law enforcement and continuing to speak with the Floyd family.

"Hopefully, everything can be fairly taken care of," Trump said. "I understand the hurt. I understand the pain. People have really been through a lot. The family of George is entitled to justice, and the people of Minnesota are entitled to live in safety. Law and order will prevail. Americans will honor the memory of George and the Floyd family. It's very important to us, it's very important to me that everything is taken care of properly. It's a horrible, horrible situation. So we'll be reporting back in due course and as quickly as possible."