Many want the immediate arrest of the two white men involved in the Black jogger’s death.
Following the release of cell phone footage of the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery,25, who was shot and killed while jogging near Brunswick, Georgia, in February, state officials say they intend to convene a grand jury investigation to determine whether charges should be filed against his shooters.
Gregory McMichael, a retired law enforcement officer, and his son Travis McMichael, both white, chased Arbery down with their truck as he was out for a jog. Both McMichaels initially justified shooting and killing Arbery to police by saying that Arbery, who is Black, looked like someone who was suspected in their neighborhood of home invasions at that time.
Travis McMichael confronted Arbery as he tried to avoid the two men by continuing to jog around the passenger side of their truck. The two struggled for control of a shotgun McMichael was holding during the confrontation, during which time McMichael shot Arbery, according to the initial police report. Three gunshots can be heard according to audio from the video.
The older McMichael had told law enforcement that Arbery had “violently” attacked his son, but video of the incident, released on Tuesday, contradicts that narrative. Arbery’s mother, Wanda Jones, agrees.
It “proves that my son was not committing a crime,” Jones told CBS when asked to react to the video of her son being shot. “He was out for his daily jog and he was hunted down like an animal and killed.”
Attorney Lee Merritt, who represents Arbery’s family, called for the arrest of both McMichaels involved in the incident. “With this video now out, these guys should be arrested now,” he said.
Tom Durden, district attorney for the Atlantic Judicial Circuit in Georgia, announced this week that he will submit the case to be considered by a grand jury in Glynn County to press charges against both McMichaels.
