This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
On May 7, 2020, Georgia police arrested Gregory and Travis McMichael, a white father and son, for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man whose death had sparked widespread outrage.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation stated that both men had been taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault in addition to murder. Travis McMichael fired the shot that killed Mr. Arbery, the state police agency said in a statement.
Outrage and concern had been building in recent days, with figures such as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., basketball star LeBron James, and Russell Moore, a prominent leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, speaking out against the lack of arrests.
The case took a dramatic turn on Tuesday with the release of a graphic video showing a black man, apparently Mr. Arbery, running toward a truck, engaging in a struggle with a man holding a shotgun, and then falling to the ground after three shotgun blasts went off.
The case has raised concerns about racial inequities in the justice system, with a Georgia prosecutor advising the Glynn County Police Department that there was “insufficient probable cause” to issue arrest warrants for the McMichaels.
However, the McMichaels' arrest has brought a measure of relief to Ahmaud Arbery's family and friends, who have been pushing for justice in his case.
“We are going to send a message,” said Gerald Griggs, the vice president of the Atlanta chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. “We will not allow unarmed African-Americans to be killed in this state with impunity. We will demand punishment within the fullest extent of the law.”
