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New Footage Shows Fatal Shooting In Georgia Of Unarmed Black Man Ahmaud Arbery
Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot more than two months ago, but there have been no arrests in the case despite the release of a video of the shooting.
New video footage has emerged showing the moment an unarmed black man in Georgia was shot and killed during an altercation with a white father and son.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on Feb. 23 while running through a neighborhood near Brunswick when a father and son — Gregory and Travis McMichael, who were both armed — apparently chased Arbery down in a pickup truck and an altercation ensued, CNN reports. While Arbery and Travis McMichael were fighting over the gun, multiple gunshots were fired and Arbery was fatally wounded.
Video posted online on Tuesday, reportedly by a radio show host, shows the moments just before Arbery was killed, according to CNN.
The brief clip, which seems to have been taken by someone riding in a vehicle directly behind the group, shows a man, believed to be Arbery, in a white shirt trying to pass a white truck parked in his path. One of the men is standing in the back of the truck while the other stands outside of the vehicle. Soon after, Arbery can be seen struggling with the shotgun-carrying man standing outside the truck, according to CNN. Later, as the men begin to tussle off-screen, the man in the bed of the truck raises his handgun and points it toward them. A total of three shots can be heard during the short clip, which ends with the man in the white shirt lying on the ground in the middle of the road.
Neither the father nor the son have been charged or arrested, NBC News reported. Gregory McMichael, 64, reportedly told police that he believed that Arbery was responsible for recent break-ins in the area, so he and his son, 34-year-old Travis McMichael, armed themselves and chased him in their truck, along with an unnamed third man, who also lives in the neighborhood.
Following Arbery's killing, his family and others in the community are calling for justice. In an interview with CBS News following the release of the disturbing video, Arbery's mother, Wanda Jones, told the outlet that it "proves that my son was not committing a crime. He was out for his daily jog and he was hunted down like an animal and killed."
Jones said on Wednesday that when she was first informed of her son's death, a detective told her that he'd been shot during a burglary by a homeowner, according to NBC News. She said that she did not find out the actual circumstances of her son's passing until days later.
District Attorney Thomas Durden said Tuesday that he believes a grand jury should consider indicting the McMichaels on criminal charges, although he did not specify what those charges would be, NBC News reported.
"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," his brief statement reads.
Durden is the third district attorney assigned to the case, after previous prosecutors recused themselves due to conflicts of interest. Gregory McMichael formerly worked as an investigator for the district attorney in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, according to CNN.
It is unclear when a grand jury would be able to meet, since current coronavirus precautions would prevent any such gathering until mid-June at least, NBC News reported.
The McMichaels declined to comment when contacted by CBS; they did the same when CNN requested a comment, with Gregory McMichael stating that he would not be speaking because he is currently under investigation.
In the meantime, lawyers for Arbery's family are calling for the McMichaels to be taken into custody as they await to see if they will be charged.
"We respect that there is a legal process that must be followed in order for formal indictments to take place, but for the safety of this community, for the respect of Ahmaud Arbery's memory we demand that ... these men be arrested," family attorney Lee Merritt said on Wednesday, according to NBC News.