National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent weighed in on controversy over a viral video showing a South Carolina deputy ripping a high school student from her desk and throwing her to the ground, claiming that the teenager “had it coming” before comparing the young student to “an animal.”

Videos began circulating on social media on October 26 showing South Carolina Deputy Ben Fields dragging a 16-year-old student away from her desk and slamming her onto the ground before arresting her. The student was accused of disrupting the classroom. Following widespread outrage over the officer's conduct, Fields was fired.

In his regular column for conspiracy website WND, Nugent offered “a huge Nuge thank you and SALUTE to Columbia, South Carolina, Senior Deputy Ben Fields,” calling him a “master of 'improvise, adapt and overcome' good citizen cop all good Americans have come to admire and respect.”

Nugent also lobbed insults at the student, calling her a “disobedient punk,” and a “brat.” He suggested the student disobeyed her parents, writing, “By all these consistent indicators, how much do you want to bet she disobeyed her parents and every other authority figure her entire life, and got away with it?”

According to news reports, the student is recently orphaned, following the death of her mother.

Nugent also connected the South Carolina incident to several incidents that resulted in the death of African-Americans. Referencing the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, Nugent wrote, “None of my family members would attack a neighborhood watch volunteer and end up getting shot and killed.”

He then connected the incident to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner:

None of my children would steal anything from a store and then assault the shopkeeper.

None of my children would defy orders from a cop, assault him and attempt to steal his gun, then attack him and get shot in self-defense.

None of the Nugent family would sell illegal cigarettes then violently resist arrest.

Nugent also compared the South Carolina student to an animal, writing, “Obey and you won't get ripped from your desk and put under control. Act like an animal and you will end up being treated like an animal.”