Ahmaud Arbery
A Georgia father and son were arrested and charged with murder Thursday evening in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery amid intensifying pressure from across the political spectrum.
Footage of the young black man who was fatally shot by a white man in Georgia ignited outrage across the political spectrum, with former vice president Joe Biden comparing it to a lynching and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) calling the shooting “absolutely horrific.”
President Trump, speaking at an event in the Oval Office on Thursday, said he expects to get a “full report” on the incident and called the death “a very sad thing.”
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, spoke passionately about the incident during a virtual campaign roundtable focused on African American issues Thursday, telling participants that watching 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery “shot down in cold blood” was like seeing him “lynched before our very eyes.”
Arbery was killed in February while jogging in a residential neighborhood in Brunswick, Ga. Video of his brief interaction with at least two men who confronted him, seconds before the gunshots, was released on social media this week.
Gregory McMichael, 64, a retired police detective, and his son, Travis McMichael, 34, saw Arbery jogging and told police they believed he looked like a suspect in a series of neighborhood burglaries (although local journalists found just one burglary reported to police between Jan. 1 and Feb. 23). The two men grabbed a handgun and shotgun and began chasing Arbery in a truck, according to a police report. Gregory McMichael said he shouted to Arbery, “Stop, stop, we want to talk to you,” before pulling up in their truck. Approaching him with their guns, a physical altercation ensued that left Arbery dead. You can see the video below as well as a Twitter thread from Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the only black Republican in the Senate.
So if this video hadn’t emerged of Travis McMichael killing Ahmad Arbery the D.A would have never brought this to the grand jury? So a black man can now add jogging to the “Things you can’t do while black” list. #AhmadArbery #JusticeForAhmaudArbery pic.twitter.com/VzyA4Y8yTz
— 🌊Sunny Baudelaire🌊 💅🏽💁🏽♀️ (@AquilaThomas09) May 6, 2020
THREAD: Every.single.time. The excuses pour in – “he looked suspicious”… “we thought he was committing a crime”…The fact remains, #AhmaudArbery was hunted down from a pickup truck and murdered in cold blood. My heart breaks for his family, and justice must be served.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) May 7, 2020
#IRunWithAhmaud, just as every person of color should be able to go for a jog or out to the store without fear. Congress can do our part – starting with finally fully passing anti-lynching legislation. However, as a nation, we have to admit some hard truths.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) May 7, 2020
#AhmaudArbery is far from the first person of color to meet this fate. But his life, or James Byrd’s, or Emmett Till’s, can’t be forgotten. The only way we can stop this is together, as one American family. It’s too late for Ahmaud; let’s ensure his memory powers a better future.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) May 7, 2020
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