Arrests Made In Shooting Death Of Ahmaud Arbery, Men Charged With Murder And Aggravated Assault

Caryn Little,

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SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) β€” Outrage is spreading over a shooting of a black man that led to murder charges more than two months later against a white father and son, but β€œall that matters is what the facts tell us,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds said Friday.

And once the GBI was brought into the case, β€œwe came up fairly quickly with the solid belief that there’s sufficient cause to charge them with felony murder and aggravated assault,” Reynolds said at a news conference.

The investigation continues now that Gregory and Travis McMichael have been booked into the Glynn County Jail in the Feb. 23 shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, and Reynolds said β€œevery stone will be uncovered.”

But in response to a question about racial intent in the shooting, Reynolds said β€œthere is no hate crime in Georgia. There isn’t. It is one of four or five states that doesn’t have one.”

The McMichaels told police they pursued Arbery, with another person recording them on video, after spotting him running in their neighborhood. The father and son said they thought he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect recorded on a surveillance camera.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her son, a former football player, was just jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood before he was killed on a Sunday afternoon.

National outrage over the case swelled this week after the cellphone video was leaked and shared on social media.

Those close to Arbery celebrated the news but also expressed frustration at the long wait.

β€œThis should have occurred the day it happened,” said Akeem Baker, one of Arbery’s close friends in Brunswick. β€œThere’s no way without the video this would have occurred. I’m just glad the light’s shining very bright on this situation.”

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the slain man’s father, Marcus Arbery, said it’s outrageous that arrests took so long.

β€œThis is the first step to justice,” Crump said in a statement. β€œThis 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 GBI announced the arrests the day after it began its own investigation at the request of an outside prosecutor. The felony murder charges against Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, mean that a victim was killed during the commission of an underlying felony, in this case aggravated assault. The charge doesn’t require intent to kill.

A GBI news release said the McMichaels β€œconfronted Arbery with two firearms. During the encounter, Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery.”

Reynolds said he didn’t know whether the McMichaels had an attorney who could comment.

Gregory McMichael retired last year as an investigator for Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson; the connection caused Johnson to recuse herself. Waycross D.A. George E. Barnhill then got the case before recusing himself under pressure from Arbery’s family because his son works in Johnson’s office.

The outside prosecutor now overseeing the case, Tom Durden, said Monday that he wanted a grand jury to decide whether charges are warranted, but Georgia courts are still largely closed because of the coronavirus. Durden said Friday that he won’t bow to public pressure from one side or another.

Brunswick defense attorney Alan Tucker identified himself Thursday as the person who shared the video with the radio station. He did not say how he obtained it. In a statement, Tucker said he wasn’t representing anyone involved. He said he shared the video β€œbecause my community was being ripped apart by erroneous accusations and assumptions.”

The video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. The truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one of the white men standing in the pickup’s bed and the other beside the open driver’s side door.

The runner attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving just beyond the truck, briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the runner grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the runner can be seen punching the man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The runner staggers a few feet and falls face down.

The outcry over the killing reached the White House, where President Donald Trump offered condolences to Arbery’s family.

β€œI saw the tape and it’s very, very disturbing,” Trump said Friday on Fox News Channel.

β€œIt’s a heartbreak. … very rough, rough stuff,” Trump added. β€œJustice getting done is what solves that problem. It’s in the hands of the governor and I’m sure he’ll do the right thing.”

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called Arbery’s death a β€œmurder.” During an online roundtable Thursday, Biden said the video shows Arbery β€œlynched before our very eyes.”

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters before the charges were announced that he’s confident state investigators will β€œfind the truth.”

β€œEarlier this week, I watched the video depicting Mr. Arbery’s last moments alive,” Kemp said. β€œI can tell you it’s absolutely horrific, and Georgians deserve answers.”

Original Story:

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) β€” The parents of a black man slain in a pursuit by two white men armed with guns called for immediate arrests Wednesday as they faced the prospect of waiting a month or longer before a Georgia grand jury could consider bringing charges.

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.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, told reporters Wednesday she believes her 25-year-old son β€œwas just out for his daily jog” in a neighborhood outside the port city of Brunswick. She hasn’t watched the video.

β€œI saw my son come into the world,” Jones said. β€œAnd seeing him leave the world, it’s not something that I’ll want to see ever.”

No arrests have been made or charges filed in coastal Glynn County more than two months after the killing. An outside prosecutor in charge of the case said he wants a grand jury to decide whether criminal charges are warranted. That won’t happen until at least mid-June, since Georgia courts remain largely closed because of the coronavirus.

Attorneys for Arbery’s family said the father and son, who have acknowledged in a police report grabbing guns and pursuing Arbery in a truck after seeing him running in their neighborhood, should be arrested now before a grand jury decides whether to indict them β€” as often happens in criminal cases.

β€œThese men were vigilantes, they were a posse and they performed a modern lynching in the middle of the day,” said Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery’s mother.

According to an incident report filed by Glynn County police, Arbery was shot after two men spotted him running in their neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon. Gregory McMichael told police that he and his adult son thought the runner matched the description of someone caught on a security camera committing a recent break-in in the neighborhood. They armed themselves with guns before getting in a truck to pursue him.

The father said his son, Travis McMichael, got out of the truck holding a shotgun, and Arbery β€œbegan to violently attack.” He said Arbery was shot as the two men fought over the shotgun, according to the police report.

After Arbery was shot, the police report says, Gregory McMichael turned him onto his back to see if he was armed. The report doesn’t say whether he had a weapon.

A phone number listed for Gregory McMichael has been disconnected. The Associated Press could not immediately find a phone listing for Travis McMichael.

The cellphone video, initially posted by a Brunswick radio station, shows a black man running at a jogging pace on the left side of a road. A truck is parked in the road ahead of him. One man is inside the pickup’s bed, and another is standing beside the open driver’s side door.

The runner crosses the road to pass the pickup on the passenger side, then crosses back in front of the truck. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the runner grappling with a man in the street over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the runner can be seen punching the man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The runner staggers a few feet and falls face down.

Tom Durden, the district attorney appointed to oversee the case, declined to comment Tuesday when asked if the video depicts Arbery’s shooting.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation got involved Wednesday after Durden requested the agency’s help. GBI Director Vic Reynolds said he assigned three supervisory-level agents to the case.

β€œI realize that emotions are running high in this community and they’re running high throughout this state,” Reynolds said in statement. β€œAnd the last thing anyone wants to do is extend us any patience. But I also realize that this investigation must be done correctly.”

Georgia law says a person can kill in self-defense β€œonly if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury … or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.” The law also says a person who provokes an attack or acts as β€œthe aggressor” can’t claim self-defense.

Merritt, the attorney for Arbery’s mother, said the U.S. Justice Department should also investigate the death as a hate crime.

β€œThe FBI has said it’s assisting,” said Justice Department spokesman Matt Lloyd, β€œand as is standard protocol we look forward to working with them should information come to light of a potential federal violation.”

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp late Tuesday threw his support behind that probe. He tweeted: β€œGeorgians deserve answers. State law enforcement stands ready to ensure justice is served.”

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, also a Republican, spoke out as well.

β€œBased on the video footage and news reports that I have seen, I am deeply concerned with the events surrounding the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery,” Carr said in a statement. β€œI expect justice to be carried out as swiftly as possible.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, also weighed in. β€œThe video is clear: Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood,” Biden tweeted, referring to the death as a β€œmurder.”

Jackie Johnson, the district attorney for Glynn County, recused herself from the case because Gregory McMichael worked as an investigator in her office. He retired a year ago. George Barnhill, the first outside prosecutor on the case, stepped aside in mid-April at the urging of Arbery’s family. Barnhill has a son who works as an assistant prosecutor for Johnson.

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Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this story.