In a visit to Ferguson, Missouri, on Friday, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Michael Brown "had done bad things, but his body didn't have to be disrespected" by being left in the street for hours and emphasized the need for respect between police and local communities.
Brown, an 18-year-old African-American, was fatally shot during a confrontation with a white police officer in Ferguson last year. The death sparked riots and brought race relations and the relationship between police and the communities they serve to the forefront of the nation's attention.
"I heard more than one time how the thing that really inflamed the community was the fact that Michael Brown's body laid out on the street for four hours. I think a lot of people understood that he had done bad things, but his body didn't have to be disrespected," Carson told reporters after a closed-door roundtable discussion with members of the community.
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
