The Georgia state attorney general on Sunday asked the US Department of Justice to investigate the handling of an unarmed black jogger’s killing, which sparked outrage across the country.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on February 23 as he ran on a sunny day in a residential neighborhood in the town of Brunswick. Two white men were arrested and charged for his shooting on Thursday.
“I have formally requested US DOJ (@SDGAnews) to conduct an investigation into the handling of the case,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr tweeted, linking to an official statement.
In the statement, Carr said his office is “committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset.”
According to the statement, the request “includes, but is not limited to, investigation of the communications and discussions by and between” the district attorneys’ offices for the Brunswick judicial circuit and the Waycross judicial circuit – both were involved in the original case.
Arbery’s case has gained national notoriety since Thursday with the release of a 28-second cell phone video that captured the shooting.
In the footage, Arbery is seen running down a residential street and approaching a white pickup truck stopped in the right lane with a man standing in the back.
As Arbery is seen trying to get around the vehicle, he is confronted by a second man holding a shotgun. An altercation between the two ensues and the firing of three shots can be heard.
The two white men were identified by police as Travis McMichael, 34, and his father Gregory McMichael, 64, who both live in Brunswick. They were arrested on Thursday and charged with murder and aggravated assault.
According to the February police report, Gregory McMichael told officers he thought Arbery was a suspect in a series of area burglaries and that he had seen the young black man “hauling ass” down the street.
McMichael said he went inside and got his .357 Magnum while his son grabbed a shotgun. When they finally caught up with Arbery and Travis McMichael got out of the truck with the shotgun, Arbery began to “violently attack” him, the father said, according to the police report.
A person walks towards the US Capitol building in Washington DC, the United States on April 30. Photo: Xinhua
