There are new developments in a deadly shooting that has had racial tensions simmering in a Georgia community. Video has surfaced of a young African American man being chased down and killed while his family says he was just out jogging.
The cellphone video captures the final moments of Ahmaud Arbery’s life while he was jogging through the Brunswick neighborhood in February.
Arbery was confronted by Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis, who shot Arbery twice with a shotgun before the 25-year-old collapsed and died.
A swelling outcry over the Feb. 23 shooting of Ahmaud Arbery intensified after a cellphone video that lawyers for his family say shows the killing surfaced online Tuesday. Following the video’s release, a large crowd of demonstrators marched in the neighborhood where Arbery was killed, and the state opened its own investigation, which the governor and attorney general pledged to support. The men who pursued Arbery told police they suspected he had committed a recent burglary.
“The mere fact that this video exists, but you haven’t seen it — what do you hope this video proves?” CBS News asked Arbery’s mother, Wanda Jones.
“Proves that my son was not committing a crime. He was out for his daily jog and he was hunted down like an animal and killed,” Jones said.
According to the only witness in the police report, McMichael told investigators he thought Arbery was a burglary suspect and ordered him to stop. McMichael said Arbery “violently” attacked his son, and the two fought “over the shotgun” before Travis shot him twice. At the time, no charges were filed.
Attorney Lee Merritt represents Arbery’s family. “With this video now out, these guys should be arrested now,” Merritt said.
McMichael is a former law enforcement officer who used to work for the local district attorney. Due to conflicts of interest, the case is now on its third prosecutor, who said he will ask a grand jury to bring charges.
“I’m hoping that all involved, they’re indicted and they go to jail,” said Jones.
The wheels of justice are moving slowly because of the coronavirus. Tom Durden, the district attorney of the Atlantic Judicial Circuit, said he will present the case to a grand jury for possible charges — once a grand jury can convene.
Many have taken to social media to voice their concerns.
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