Written By- @pistolwhippedya
Headlines across the nation are reporting the arrest of Gregory McMichael, 64 and son Travis McMichael, 34 for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery near Brunswick, Georgia. The father and son duo were arrested Thursday and charged with murder and aggravated assault, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The arrest comes 10-weeks after Arbery, 25, was murdered while jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood. On February 23, Gregory McMichael and his son Travis chased down Arbery after they suspected him of burglarizing a nearby home that was under construction. According to the Glynn County police report, Gregory said Aubrey fit the description of the person suspected of recent break-ins in the area and was the reason they pursued him.
An unidentified person recorded the killing; the video was released to the public last week and showed a struggle between Travis McMichael and Arbery. Three gunshots can be heard, and then Arbery appears on camera bleeding through his white shirt, before collapsing to the ground. Gregory told police his son shot Arbery after he was attacked. Arbery was pronounced dead at the scene.
S. Lee Merritt has been retained to represent the family and said that the McMichaels saw a black man jogging through their neighborhood, assumed the worst, and tracked him down and killed him.
According to reports, when police arrived at the scene, Gregory McMichael had blood on his hands, claiming he turned over Arbery’s body to see if he had a gun. No weapon was discovered, meaning Arbery was unarmed. As for the recent break-ins, Glynn County Police Lt. Cheri Bashlor said there was “just” one automobile burglary in the neighborhood reported after a 9 mm pistol was stolen January 1 from an unlocked truck outside the McMichaels’ home, which refutes McMichael’s story.
According to the Insider, Gregory McMichael worked 30 years in the Glynn County District Attorney’s office as an Investigator. He worked as a Glynn County police officer for seven years before that position, which may be the reason authorities delayed their arrest. Two District Attorneys, Jackie Johnson, and George Barnhill, recused themselves from the case due to conflict of interests. However, Barnhill wrote a letter bolstering that the McMichael’s were within their rights to make a citizen’s arrest. Travis McMichael’s occupation is still unknown.
District attorney Tom Durden of the Atlantic Judicial Circuit plans to present the evidence to the grand jury once the pandemic restrictions are lifted. On Tuesday, Durden requested the GBI take over the case. Director Vic Reynolds said the agency hit the ground running and established probable cause for the arrests of the McMichaels after reviewing interviews and case files. By 7:45 pm on Thursday, arrests were made without incident. On Friday, the two were denied bond.
As for any additional arrests, Reynolds said,” If, in fact, the facts takes them to make another arrest in the case, they will do that.” Agents will remain in the area to investigate and will continue to gather evidence. “Every stone will be uncovered.”
Arbery’s killing received national outrage from Citizens, Entertainers, and Politicians, all voicing the need for justice and reform of the criminal justice system. Social media has since made Arbery’s picture and case viral, and are outraged that they can go to hair salons, grocery stores, and tattoo parlors, but Arbery’s family has to wait on justice because courts are closed due to COVID-19.
Georgia Governor Kemp and President Trump also weighed in on Arbery’s murder.
During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Gov. Brian Kemp had strong words about the killing.
“Earlier this week, I watched a video depicting Mr. Arbery’s last moments alive. It is absolutely horrific, and Georgians deserve answers,” Kemp said. “I have confidence in Vic Reynolds and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. I know they will work around the clock to thoroughly and independently investigate Mr. Arbery’s death to find the truth. In these moments, please pray for his loved ones, the local community, and our state.”
Meanwhile, Trump said, “I saw the tape, and it’s very, very disturbing. The tape. I got to see it. It’s very disturbing.” He told “Fox and Friends” that he had also seen a photo of Arbery wearing a tuxedo and that he “looks like a really good young guy. It’s a very disturbing situation to me, and I just, you know, my heart goes out to the parents and the family and the friends,” he said.
Today would have been Abrey’s 26th birthday, and many have pledged to run or walk 2.23 miles in honor of him.
Arbery’s mother spoke on ‘Good Morning America’ Thursday morning and said she wants people to know that her son was a kind person. “Ahmaud carried the most humble spirit. Ahmaud was kind. He was well-mannered. Ahmaud, most of all, was loved by his family and peers,” Wanda Cooper-Jones said. His father, Marcus Arbery Sr., expressed his son’s murder is a modern-day lynching and would like everyone to know “this could happen to their child.”
Arbery was not a criminal but a former Brunswick High School student and athlete. He wore the number 21 on his football jersey, which was passed down by his older brother Marcus Jr. He attended South Georgia Technical College. His killing will be another senseless act of injustice of a targeted innocent black man.
He was laid to rest on February 29. His obituary read “humble, kind and well mannered,” and someone who “always made sure he never departed from his loved ones without an ‘I Love You.'” He enjoyed telling jokes and spending time with his family and friends, and he “had a smile that would light up a room.”
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