Ex-cop, son charged with murder in death of jogger

Black Georgia man’s shooting caught on video

A Georgia father and son were arrested and charged with murder Thursday evening in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery amid intensifying pressure from across the political spectrum.

Footage of a young black man who was fatally shot by a white man in Georgia ignited outrage across the political spectrum, with former vice- president Joe Biden comparing it to a lynching and Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp calling the shooting “absolutely horrific.”

President Donald Trump, speaking at an event in the Oval Office Thursday, said he expects to get a “full report” on the incident and called the death “a very sad thing.”

Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, spoke passionately about the incident during a virtual campaign roundtable focused on African- American issues Thursday, telling participants that watching 25- year- old Ahmaud Arbery “shot down in cold blood” was like seeing him “lynched before our very eyes.”

Arbery was killed in February while jogging in a residential neighbourhood in Brunswick, Ga.

Video of his brief interaction with at least two men who confronted him, seconds before the gunshots, was released on social media this week. No one has been charged.

Gregory Mcmichael, 64, a retired police detective, saw Arbery jogging and believed he looked like a suspect in break- ins in the neighbourhood, according to a police report. A local news report found only one burglary was reported to police between Jan. 1 and Feb. 23.

Mcmichael called his son, Travis Mcmichael, 34, and they armed themselves with a handgun and shotgun, respectively. They chased Arbery in a truck, according to the report, and Gregory Mcmichael told police that he shouted to Arbery, “Stop, stop, we want to talk to you,” before, according to their statements, they pulled up beside him in their truck.

Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Greg Mcmichael said, “There are many, many facts out there that have not come to light.”

“This is all based on the video and newspaper story, all the stuff that led up to that still hasn’t been released,” he said.

Greg Mcmichael refused to comment further because the case is under investigation. He referred to his attorney, Alan Tucker, who did not return an email requesting comment on the case.