Otto Warmbier’s Roommate In North Korea Describes Day Of Arrest

The roommate of North Korean prisoner Otto Warmbier spoke out about their time together in the country following Warmbier’s return to the United States. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years hard labor in the country in January 2016 after being accused of stealing a propaganda poster. The 22-year-old student was finally returned to the U.S. last week but was in a coma and died Monday as a result of severe brain trauma.

Danny Gratton, Warmbier’s roommate during their brief stay in North Korea, said they spent four days together and became close friends in that time. He recalled the day of Warmbier’s arrest to the Washington Post, detailing the events of Jan. 2, 2016, when the two attempted to get through immigration at Pyongyang International Airport, the “last physical time” he saw his friend.

Read: Heartbreaking Video Of Defector Depicts Brutal Life In North Korea

“No words were spoken,” Gratton recalled. “Two guards just came over and simply tapped Otto on the shoulder and led him away. I just said kind of quite nervously, ‘Well, that’s the last we’ll see of you.’ There’s a great irony in those words.’

Gratton said Warmbier “didn’t resist” and “didn’t look scared,” but instead, “sort of half-smiled.”

As for the accusations that Warmbier stole a propaganda poster, Gratton said he had a hard time believing it.

“I’ve got nothing from my experience with him that would suggest he would do something like that,” he said. “At no stage did I ever think he was anything but a very, very polite kid.”

Warmbier and Gratton met in Beijing before their flight to North Korea, where they became fast friends.

“When we got to Pyongyang, we were the two single guys, so it seemed logical for us to be put in the same room,” said Gratton. “So basically from the time we got to Pyongyang to the time I left him, we were together. I got to know Otto really, really well. He was such a mature lad for his age.”

Even if Warmbier had stolen the poster, Gratton said, his sentencing was unbelievably harsh.

“No one deserves that,” said Gratton. “He was just a young lad who wanted a bit of adventure. Every once in a while they single out someone to make a point and this was just Otto’s turn. It’s just so sick and warped and unnecessary and evil.”

Warmbier’s release was, at first, heralded as a significant step toward better relations between North Korea and the United States, though it soon became apparent that Warmbier had suffered at the hands of the regime. North Korean officials said Warmbier’s deteriorated condition was the result of botulism and a sleeping pill, though doctors at the University Cincinnati Medical Center said he showed no signs of botulism. They described his condition as “unresponsive wakefulness” and said he had “severe injury to all regions of the brain.”

President Donald Trump denounced the treatment of Warmbier in North Korea after news emerged of his passing.

Read: North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program Advancing ‘Faster Than Expected’

“The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim,” a statement released by the president said.

“Otto was just a really great lad who fell into the most horrendous situation that no one could ever believe,” said Gratton. “It’s just something I think in the western world we just can’t understand, we just can’t grasp, the evilness behind that dictatorship.”