A graphic video posted online Tuesday showing the deadly shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was killed in February by two white men as he went for a jog in suburban Georgia, has prompted a Georgia district attorney to recommend that a grand jury review the fatal shooting.
“I am of the opinion that the case should be presented to the grand jury of Glynn County for consideration of criminal charges against those involved in the death of Mr. Arbery,” Tom Durden, District Attorney Pro Tempore for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, wrote in a press release.
The cellphone video, originally posted online by Georgia radio station WGIG Tuesday afternoon, has since gone viral. Arbery can be seen running down one side a two-lane road when he comes upon two men in a pick-up truck parked in the middle of the street. Arbery tries to go past the truck before he’s confronted by one of the armed men. After words are exchanged and a struggle ensues, a shotgun blasts ring out.
The video is clear: Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood. My heart goes out to his family, who deserve justice and deserve it now. It is time for a swift, full, and transparent investigation into his murder. https://t.co/alvY5WjdHx
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 6, 2020
Travis McMichael, the man holding the shotgun, and his father, Greg McMichael, who was armed with a pistol, were not immediately charged because Travis McMichael claimed he was acting within the scope of a citizen’s arrest.
The footage sparked a flood of angry reaction nationwide including former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden who tweeted that the video is clear and that Arbery deserves justice. “Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood. My heart goes out to his family, who deserve justice and deserve it now. It is time for a swift, full, and transparent investigation into his murder,” Biden tweeted.
