Two Glynn County commissioners are claiming that District Attorney Jackie Johnson’s office kept local police from making arrests in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. Johnson says the claim is false.
Commissioner Peter Murphy told reporters that a Glynn County police investigator was told to stand down, saying there were “no arrests today.” Commissioner Allen Booker said the officers at the scene who had investigated were ready to make arrests. The commissioners also pointed out that Gregory, one of the two men now charged, once worked as an investigator in Johnson’s office.
Johnson pushed back on Friday. Her office says she did not direct any officer to hold off on arrests, and her spokesperson said she had no conversation with any Glynn County officer about the case on Feb. 23. The office says it referred police to the district attorney in neighboring Waycross because of a conflict and notified the Georgia Attorney General by letter on Feb. 25. According to reports, the Waycross district attorney also told police in a letter that he did not see grounds for an arrest at that time.
Gregory, 64, and his son Travis, 34, were arrested Thursday, more than two months after Arbery was shot in the Satilla Shores community near Brunswick. Local reports say the arrests came after a video of the shooting went viral.
Arbery would have turned 26 on Friday.
Sources: News4Jax, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Georgia Public Broadcasting.
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