President Donald Trump expressed his condolences to the family of Otto Warmbier after the American college student passed away Monday following his detention in North Korea.
“Melania and I offer our deepest condolences to the family of Otto Warmbier on his untimely passing. There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life,” Trump said in an official statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Otto’s family and friends, and all who loved him.”
Warmbier, 22, was arrested and imprisoned in North Korea after being found guilty of stealing a propaganda poster. He was released last week while in a coma for which the exact causes remain unknown.
Doctors who were treating him in Cincinnati said that Warmbier suffered a catastrophic brain injury shortly after his conviction around April 2016. He was detained in North Korea for 17 months.
Trump said in his statement: “Otto’s fate deepens my Administration’s determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency. The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim.”