After escaping criminal charges for two months, a father and son were arrested in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested and booked into Glynn County Jail on Thursday (May 7).
The McMichaels are charged with murder and aggravated assault, according to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The arrest followed public outcry over the murder of 25-year-old Arbery who was stalked, cornered and murdered while jogging through a suburban neighborhood one town over from his home in Brunswick, Georgia.
xell phone footage, reportedly recorded by a third man, Bryan Wlliams, shows Gregory and Travis surrounding Arbery before shooting him to death. Video of the heinous murder was leaked to a local radio station earlier in the week. The elder McMichael is a retired investigator for the Brunswick district attorney’s office.
Arbery was unarmed when he was gunned down in late February. The McMichael’s told authorities that they thought he was a burglary suspect when they began following him in a pickup truck with guns in hand.
Brunswick D.A. George E. Barnhill, D.A. for Brunswick, chose not to arrest the McMichaels after reviewing the footage. Barnhill was forced to step down from the case after he was called out over his ties to the suspects. Tom Durden, D.A. Pro Temper for Brunswick Judicial Circuit, took over and recommended that a grand jury review the case to decide whether charges should be brought against the McMichaels, but with courts in Georgia shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many called for their immediate arrest.
LeBron James, Kerry Washington, Viola Davis and Tracee Ellis Ross, were among those who shared images of Arbery on social media a demand for justice. “We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!,” James tweeted on Wednesday (May 6). “Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man [for real] ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud(Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the heavens above to your family!!”
We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes! Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud(Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the….. pic.twitter.com/r1PNxs8Vgn
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 6, 2020
The murder investigation is ongoing.