The father and son who were caught on video confronting and later fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia have been arrested for murder. TMZ reports that Travis McMichael and Gregory McMichael were arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations arrested the McMichaels on Thursday.
Currently, both of the father and son have been booked into Glynn County Jail for murder and aggravated assault. The incident with Arbery took place on February 23, and neither of the men faced any legal consequences for their actions. However, after the video continued to circulate online in recent days, there was a growing call for some kind of justice to take place. The GBI had also taken over the investigation from the local police on Thursday.
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“Our goal in every investigation is to seek the truth,” GBI Director Vic Reynolds told reporters Wednesday. “And that’s exactly what we intend on doing in this matter. I realize that emotions are running high in this community and they’re running high throughout the state, and the last thing anyone wants to do is extend us any patience. But I also realize that this investigation must be done correctly and therefore I must ask for a little of your patience.”
On the date of his murder, Arbery was jogging through his neighborhood when the McMichaels saw him and assumed he was a burglary suspect. The video itself shows son Travis McMichael shooting Arbery after both are fighting for a gun. Gregory McMichael, a former police detective and district attorney’s office investigator, said they armed themselves and chased Arbery in their truck because they wanted to talk to him.
There’s also a recording of the 911 call that the outlet released, with Gregory McMichael talking to a dispatcher, saying, “He’s running right now. There he goes right now.” The son later claimed that the two were attempting to carry out a citizen’s arrest under Georgia state law.
The calls for the arrest of the McMichaels reached celebrities on social media far and white, included NBA star LeBron James, who shared a photo of the late Arbery on his Instagram. “We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes,” James wrote in the caption. “Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man [for real] ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!”
