Father, son charged with killing black jogger
Attorney for victim’s father calls action the ‘ first step to justice’
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Georgia authorities arrested a white father and son Thursday, and charged them with murder in the February shooting death of a black man they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood.
The charges came more than two months after Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on a street just outside the city of Brunswick. National outrage over the case swelled this week after cellphone video that appeared to show the shooting.
Those close to Arbery celebrated, but also expressed frustration at the long wait.
“This should have occurred the day it happened,” said Akeem Baker, one of Arbery’s close friends. “There’s no way without the video this would have occurred. I’m just glad the light’s shining very bright on this situation.”
Gregory McMichael, 64, previously told police that he and his son chased Arbery because they suspected him of being a burglar. Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her son was just jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon before he was killed.
Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the slain man’s father, Marcus Arbery, said it was outrageous that it took so long for arrests to be made.
“This is the first step to justice,” Crump said in a statement. “This murderous father and son duo took the law into their own hands. It’s a travesty of justice that they enjoyed their freedom for 74 days after taking the life of a young black man who was simply jogging.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrests the day after it began its own investigation at the request of an outside prosecutor. The agency said in a news release that Gregory McMichael and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, had both been jailed on charges of murder and aggravated assault.
The GBI news release said the McMichaels “confronted Arbery with two firearms. During the encounter, Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery.” No other details were released.