Biden: 'More violence' in Minneapolis won't heal grief over George Floyd's death

Joe Biden chided demonstrators in Minneapolis protesting the death of George Floyd while in police custody, reminding them that violent rioting won't help the tenuous situation.

"I say that they're right to be in fact angry and frustrated, and more violence hurting more people isn't going to answer the question," Biden told CNN Friday. "But they're totally correct, and it's time it stops."

Derek Chauvin, the officer seen in a viral video arresting and pinning Floyd down by his neck with his knee, was taken into custody by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington announced Friday.

Hennepin County prosecutor Mike Freeman later said during a press conference that Chauvin, fired from the Minneapolis Police Department along with three other officers, had been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. The FBI and Justice Department are similarly investigating whether the officers violated any federal civil rights laws.

The presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee described the state charge as "justified."

"This man had his knee on a man's neck up against the curb for nine minutes. I don't know what else, what other conclusion can be reached," Biden said.

The former vice president also slammed the man he's hoping to replace in the White House in November as "thoroughly irresponsible."

After protesters broke into Minneapolis shops and set the city's police's 3rd Precinct aflame, President Trump promised military assistance if need be, tweeting, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." Former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who critics argue stoked racial tensions in the 1960s, is well-known for using the phrase.

"He is totally, thoroughly wrong the way he’s handling this," Biden said Friday. "It is not presidential. It is not consistent with what other presidents would do. It's not consistent with our values."