Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old man, who was jogging, was shot and killed in Brunswick, Georgia, according to the official police record.
The brutal murder of Ahmaud Arbery was caught on video by a man who was filming the “chase.” Arbery, who was African American, was killed by a father/son duo — Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael.
According to Arbery’s family, he was shot on February 25 while being chased by the McMichaels, who claimed that they were searching for a man who took part in a burglary in the area.
The men, who had several weapons, say they were chasing Arbery while driving a white pickup truck because he looked like the burglar.
They told the Glynn County Police Department that they attempted to approach Arbery to question him about the home invasions, and he refused, which led to the deadly altercation.
Travis told authorities he shot Arbery because he believed he was “violently attacked.” Police have confirmed that Arbery was not armed.
In the video, Arbery is seen running down the middle of the road when the McMichaels’s white pickup truck pulls up.
The pair screams and yells at the runner, and at some point, Arbery moves to the side of the truck, and he goes head to head with Travis, who was carrying a shotgun.
A first shot is fired, and Arbery and Travis fight for the weapon, prompting Gregory to use his handgun two times. Arbery then stumbles and falls in front of the truck.
The facts about the shooting are being debated on social media while the investigation marches on in a rather odd way for the following reasons.
Arbery is black, and Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael are white. The pair has not been charged thus far because they hold strong ties to law enforcement.
It has been confirmed that Gregory, 64, is a former police officer and investigator for a local district attorney’s office. Arbery’s family and friends have insisted that he was not a criminal and he ran every day.
Jason Vaughn, Arbery’s high school football, stated: “People are known for jogging in that area all the time, and we all know Maud likes to jog the area. He would stop and, sometimes, in the middle of his workout, he’d play basketball with the younger kids, and at the game, he’d go back to jogging. That’s the kind of person he was.”
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper, spoke to CNN and revealed that her son jogged and ran every day, and he was not a troublemaker.
Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, defended him while talking to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and saying: “My kid was murdered. That’s all I can say. He ran like that every day – all his life. He ran in his neighborhood and that one too. That’s the only place he ever had a problem.”
The New York Times has revealed the video of the shooting was recorded by an unnamed man who was helping the McMichaels in their “hot pursuit” of Arbery.
Lee Merritt, a famous civil rights attorney, who represents Arbery and his family, said it was a murder and added: “The series of events captured in this video confirms what all the evidence indicated prior to its release— Ahmaud Arbery was pursued by three white men that targeted him solely because of his race and murdered him without justification. This is murder.”
A grand jury is going to review the case. In an election year, it could easily get national ramifications.
