Ahmaud Arbery.
One year afterAhmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man, was fatally shot while jogging through a neighborhood in Georgia, his mother still wrestled with the video of the shooting that ultimately led tomurder charges against three white men.
“It replays in my mind each and every day,” Wanda Cooper-Jonestold theToday showin February.
That video — like the one that drove the prosecution’s case in the trial last year of a police officerconvicted of murdering George Floyd— will be a key piece of evidence as the trial of those accused in Arbery’s death begins with jury selection on Monday.
All three suspects have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges. The defense alleges the men believed Arbery matched the description of someone who reportedly burglarized a home construction site, and they were attempting a citizen’s arrest when the scuffle broke out.
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Travis, at left, and Gregory McMichael.
William “Roddie” Bryan Jr.
The three incidents helped propel a summer-longnational movement of protest against racial injustice and police brutalitythat linked the names of the victims together.
Prosecutor Indicted on Accusations She Mishandled Case
That same district attorney, George Barnhill, wrote in a separate analysis: “The family are not strangers to the local criminal justice system. From best we can tell, Ahmaud’s older brother has gone to prison in the past … . It also appears a cousin has been prosecuted … .”
But none of that justified Arbery’s shooting, Merritt said. “The root of Ahmaud’s murder goes back to the criminalization of Blackness,” he told PEOPLE at the time. “This was a lynching.”
Another Georgia prosecutor, Jackie Johnson, the former district attorney of Glynn County,was indicted in Septemberon accusations she obstructed police officers from arresting Travis McMichael and showed “favor” to Greg McMichael, who had previously worked in her office, according to an indictment against her. Johnson was the first of four prosecutors to be in charge of the case, which is now in the hands of a prosecutor from Cobb County.
Johnson is charged with violation of oath of public officer and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. PEOPLE’s call Brian Steele, an attorney representing Johnson, was not immediately returned Thursday. It was not immediately clear if Johnson has entered a plea.
Suspect Allegedly Used Racial Slur After Shooting Arbery
As Arbery attempted to outrun his pursuers, they blocked his escape route. The video then shows Arbery running toward Travis McMichael, who has gotten out of the truck, as the first shotgun blast is recorded.
Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) Special Agent Richard Dialtestified during a preliminary hearingin June 2020 that Bryan told authorities Travis McMichael then referred to Arbery with a racial slur as he lay dying.
The video is “extremely upsetting,” GBI Director Vic Reynolds said at a news conference announcing the arrests. “On a human level, it’s troubling.”
“I can’t answer what another agency did or didn’t see,” he said in response to a question about the 10-week delay in arrests. “But I can tell you that based on our involvement in this case, and considering that we hit the ground running … and within 36 hours had secured warrants for two individuals for felony murder, I think that speaks volumes.”
The three men charged with Arbery’s death also are now facingfederal hate crime chargesin the case – specifically, one count each of interference with rights and one count each of attempted kidnapping, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announcedin a news release.Like the state prosecutors, the federal prosecutors allege that Bryan joined the McMichaels in chasing Arbery and using his truck to cut off Arbery’s path.
In the state trial opening this week, all three are charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit a felony.
An attorney for Travis McMichael, Jason V. Sheffield, toldThe New York Timesthat he would argue Travis felt he was “in fear of being shot himself” as Arbery attempted to wrestle away his shotgun.
source: people.com
