Nationwide — Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year old unarmed Black man from Brunswick Georgia, was reportedly shot and killed by two white men as he jogged through their neighborhood. The incident happened back in February, but no charges have yet been filed.
Gregory, who is a retired investigator in the District Attorney’s office, said he asked Ahmaud to “stop” so they could talk. The situation escalated, and later there was an alleged struggle after with the McMichael’s shotgun. Ahmaud was shot at least twice.
Some witnesses said Ahmaud, who was wearing a white t-shirt on that day, was only exercising. However, a 911 call from a nearby neighbor earlier that day reported a Black man in a white t-shirt who is “running right now” from a house that was under construction.
Brunswick NAACP president Rev. John Davis Perry II said the shooting is “troubling,” causing other people in the area to express concerns about the community and racial profiling.
Meanwhile, a prosecutor argued that the father and son who killed Ahmaud were justified due to the citizen’s arrest statute in Georgia. Travis, who was actually holding the shotgun, is said to have acted out of self-defense.
The prosecutor, who has since been recused from the case due to a possible conflict of interest, noted that Ahmaud had a criminal record. In 2018, he was convicted of shoplifting and violating probation, and he was indicted for reportedly taking a handgun to a high school basketball game.
Neither Gregory or Travis McMichael have yet been charged or arrested in connection to the killing. Another prosecutor from a different county will determine whether the case should be presented to a grand jury.
“We can’t do anything because of this corona stuff,” Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper told the New York Times. “We thought about walking out where the shooting occurred, just doing a little march, but we can’t be out right now.”
