CNN's Van Jones claims black cops who 'killed' Tyre Nichols may be 'driven by racism'

black racism and that the narratives of police violence should never be as simple as 'white cop kills unarmed black man.'

'Society's message that Black people are inferior, unworthy and dangerous is pervasive,' Jones wrote.

'Over many decades, numerous experiments have shown that these ideas can infiltrate Black minds as well as White. Self-hatred is a real thing.'

CNN commentator Van Jones sparked backlash for suggesting the police officers - all of whom were black - who beat and eventually killed Tyre Nichols may have been 'driven by racism'

He said this kind of thinking might lead a black store owner to 'regard customers of his same race with suspicion.'

'Black people can harbor anti-Black sentiments and can act on those feelings in harmful ways,' Jones added.

He went on to suggest that the problem is the black cops are 'socialized' in police departments which treat neighborhoods as 'war zones' and claims that the cops of all races 'internalize' the notion that few officers are punished for acts of brutality.