A Georgia district attorney is recommending that the case of Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased, shot and killed while jogging goes before a grand jury.
25-year-old Ahmaud was black, unarmed and jogging down the street in Brunswick neighborhood on February 23 when white former police officer Greg McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, chased him down and killed him.
Why? Because they claim they thought he looked like a suspect in a series of recent break-ins in the area.
Via CNN:
After seeing Arbery jogging, McMichael then alerted his 34-year-old son, Travis, according to the police report.
“Travis, the guy is running down the street, let’s go,” McMichael said, according to the report. The two grabbed a shotgun and a pistol and followed Arbery in their truck, police said.
Travis McMichael, the driver, followed Arbery and then attempted to cut him off, the report said. Arbery turned around and began running in the opposite direction, the police report said.
They chased Arbery to a nearby intersection where they caught up to him, the report said. “Stop, stop, we want to talk to you,” Gregory McMichael shouted at Arbery, according to the police report.
Travis McMichael then exited the truck with the shotgun, the police report said. His father told officers Arbery “violently attacked” his son, the report said, and they struggled over the gun.
Travis McMichael fired two shots, the report said, and Arbery fell.
Video of the shooting, released on Tuesday, shows the men lied about what happened the day they killed Ahmaud Arbery.
The video shows Ahmaud jogging down the street at a regular pace (they claimed he was “hauling ass”) when the McMichael’s blocked his way with their pickup truck.
When he tried to run around the truck, Travis accosted Ahmaud with a shotgun in his hand leaving the young man no choice but to fight for his life.
Within seconds of them coming into contact with each other, Travis fired the shotgun striking Ahmaud who was struggling to get the gun away from him. Then, there was a second shot and then a third.
Ahmaud finally gave up and tried to run away before collapsing face first on the street.
During the confrontation, Gregory was on the back of the pickup truck trying to aim at Ahmaud with his .357 magnum.
First, the men claimed it was self-defense. Then, they claimed they were trying to do a citizen’s arrest.
Lee Merrit, the attorney for Ahmaud Arbery’s family told CNN:
According to that law, you actually have to be observing the crime or be in the immediate knowledge of the crime.
The only thing they have ever said is … that Ahmaud stopped by a house that was under construction and he looked through the window.
We don’t know if that happened or not, but even if that did happen that is not a felony that would invoke the citizen’s arrest statute that would make this allowable.
Watch the news report below:
This feels like Trayvon Martin all over again. But, this time…there is video.
I pray the grand jury will do the right thing and bring charges against these two murderers.
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