Two charged, but anger boils
Murder of unarmed black man in Georgia raises civil rights issues to fever pitch, writes Richard Fausset
The two white men who were seen on video as one of them fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-yearold black man, have been arrested and charged in connection with the February killing, Georgia authorities announced.
The men, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were each charged with murder and aggravated assault and booked into a jail in coastal Glynn County, Georgia, where the killing took place, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
The details of Arbery’s killing — and the fact that no one had been arrested in the nearly three months since it happened — led to a wave of outrage nationwide from figures as diverse as former vice-president Joe Biden, basketball star LeBron James and Russell Moore, a prominent leader of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Those sentiments surged Tuesday with the release of a graphic video that showed Arbery running toward a truck, engaging in a struggle with a man holding a shotgun, and then falling to the ground after three shotgun blasts went off.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, in a news release, stated it was Travis McMichael who shot and killed Arbery on Feb 23.
The case is the latest in the United States to raise concerns about racial inequities in the justice system. Documents obtained by The New York Times show that a Georgia prosecutor who had the case for weeks before recusing himself over a conflict of interest had advised the Glynn County Police Department that there was “insufficient probable cause” to issue arrest warrants for the McMichaels.
The prosecutor, George Barnhill of Georgia’s Waycross Judicial Circuit, noted that the McMichaels were carrying their weapons legally under
Georgia law. He also cited the state’s citizen’s arrest statute and the statute on self-defence.
Mr Barnhill argued that Arbery, who appeared to be unarmed, had initiated the fight with Travis McMichael, and Mr McMichael was thus “allowed to use deadly force to protect himself”.
The case was next assigned to another district attorney, Tom Durden. Amid rising anger, criticism and national attention, Mr Durden this week announced that he would ask a Glynn County grand jury to decide whether charges were warranted. He also asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to get involved.
It was not clear Thursday whether the McMichaels had retained legal counsel. Previously, Gregory McMichael could not be reached for comment, and Travis McMichael had declined to comment, citing the investigation.
Gregory McMichael is a former officer with the Glynn County Police Department, and until his retirement last year, he spent many years as an investigator in the local district attorney’s office. A protest organised by the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is scheduled for today, on what would have been Arbery’s 26th birthday, outside the courthouse in Brunswick, Georgia. Gerald Griggs, the chapter’s vice-president, said the rally would continue as planned.
“We are going to send a message,” he said, “and the message is this: We will not allow unarmed African Americans to be killed in this state with impunity.
We will demand punishment within the fullest extent of the law.”
The hashtag #IRunWithMaud has spread widely on social media, with celebrities and prominent activists pledging to join others Friday by running 2.23 miles, marking the date when Arbery was shot.
Akeem Baker, 26, Arbery’s longtime friend who has been watching the case closely, said on Thursday night that he felt an “ounce of joy”.
“But I’m still uneasy,” he added. “It’s
a small win, you know, but I feel like we still got to continue to push forward to get justice. To make sure everybody involved are held accountable.”
S Lee Merritt, a lawyer representing Arbery’s family, said that Arbery’s mother, Wander Cooper, was grateful the police had made the arrests.
“She was very relieved,” Mr Merritt said. “She remained very stoic as she has during this entire process. I believe that she is holding out for a conviction for these men.”