Two white men were arrested Thursday and charged with the death of an unarmed Black male who was gunned down while running through a majority white neighborhood in Brunswick, Ga. on Feb. 23.
Georgia authorities charged Travis McMichael, 34, and his father, former cop Gregory McMichael, 64, with murder and aggravated assault in the death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.
The suspects were booked into the Glynn County Detention Center late Thursday.
The McMichaels and a neighbor pursued Arbery in a pickup truck and a car as he ran down a street in Satilla Shores, a majority white, middle class enclave in Glynn County.
Arbery was shot three times, Glynn County Coroner Marc Neu said. He died at the scene, “bleeding out” within minutes.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, said her son was out jogging. But the McMichaels claimed Arbery was a “burglary suspect,” and they believed they were within their rights to kill him in self-defense.
Arbery’s death sparked national outrage that peaked Wednesday with the release of a cell phone video that showed the violent confrontation between Travis McMichael and Arbery before he died.
The Glynn County police on Wednesday called in the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) to determine who leaked the cell phone video to the media.
Brunswick defense attorney Alan Tucker identified himself Thursday as the person who leaked the video to WGIG radio station.
In a statement to News4Jax, Tucker said he wasn’t representing any side in the case. He said he released the video “because people had the right to know” and “because my community was being ripped apart by erroneous accusations and assumptions.”
Tucker did not say how he obtained the video. The shocking cell phone footage put tiny Brunswick, Ga. in the international spotlight.
Outraged celebrities and politicians weighed in on the case. Former Vice President Joe Biden said the video is “clear” and Arbery was ambushed and “killed in cold blood.” He wrote that his heart goes out to Arbery’s family and he called for a transparent investigation into the “murder”.
President Trump was criticized for not commenting on the case earlier. Trump told reporters on Thursday: “It’s a very sad thing… but I will be given a full report this evening.”
Whoopi Goldberg was among those who criticized President Trump for waiting to comment on Arbery’s death. “If two Black men shot a white guy, Trump would be outraged,” she said.
