Savannah, Ga. (AP) – The parents of a black man who was killed by two white men who were armed with weapons immediately asked for arrests on Wednesday when they waited for a month or more before a Grand jury in Georgia could consider charges.
A swelling outcry on Ahmaud Arbery's shooting on February 23 increased after a cell phone video that the lawyers say for his family that killing has appeared online on Tuesday. After the video was published, a large number of demonstrators marched in the neighborhood in which Arbery was killed, and the state opened its own investigation that the governor and Attorney General undertook. The men who persecuted Arbery told the police that they suspected that he had committed a recent slump.
Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, told reporters on Wednesday that she believes that her 25-year-old son in a neighborhood outside the port city of Brunswick was “only for his daily jogging”. She didn't see the video.
“I saw my son coming into the world,” said Jones. “And when he leaves the world, it is not something I ever want to see.”
More than two months after killing, no arrests were made or charged. An external public prosecutor said in the event that he wants a large jury to decide whether criminal charges are justified. This will only happen at least in mid -June, since Georgia's dishes are largely closed due to the coronavirus.
The lawyers of Arbery's family said that the father and the son who recognized in a police report to pack weapons and follow Arbery in a truck after running in their neighborhood should now be arrested before a Grand jury decides whether they should accuse them – as is often the case in criminal proceedings.
“These men were vigilant, they were a group and they carried out a modern lynch mass in the middle of the day,” said Lee Merritt, lawyer of Arbery's mother.
According to an incident report submitted by the Glynn County police, Arbery was shot after two men saw him in their neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon. Gregory McMichael told the police that he and his adult son believed that the runner agreed to the description of someone who captured on a surveillance camera that had recently committed a slump in the neighborhood. She arms with weapons before getting into a truck to follow it.
The father said his son, Travis McMichael, came out of the truck to keep a shotgun and Arbery “started attacking”. He said Arbery was shot when the two men fought over the shotgun, according to the police report.
After Arbery was shot, the police report said, Gregory McMichael turned to see if he was armed. The report does not say if he had a weapon.
A telephone number listed for Gregory McMichael was separated. The Associated Press could not immediately find a telephone list for Travis McMichael.
The mobile phone video, which was originally posted by a radio station from Brunswick, shows a black man who runs on the left side of a street. A truck is parked on the street in front of him. A man is in the bed of the pickup, and another stands next to the driver's open travel door.
The runner crosses the road to pass the pick -up on the passenger side, and then crosses back in front of the truck. A shot sounds and the video shows how the runner deals with a man on the street over a shotgun or a rifle. A second shot can be heard and the runner can be seen how he beats the man. A third shot is fired in the point blank area. The runner closes a few feet and falls down.
Tom Durden, the district prosecutor, who was appointed to monitor the case, declined to comment on Tuesday when the Video of Arky's shootout represents. A phone message was left to him on Wednesday.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is now investigating the shootout after Durden has applied for the agency's help, said GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles.
Georgia's law says that a person can kill in self -defense, “only if she or she sensibly believes that such a force is necessary to prevent death or a great physical injury or to prevent violence from being committed.” The law also says that a person who provokes an attack or acts as an “attacker” cannot claim self -defense.
Merritt, the lawyer of Arbery's family, said that the US Ministry of Justice should also examine death as a hate crime.
“The FBI said it helps,” said the spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, Mike Lloyd, “and, like the standard protocol, we look forward to working with you if information is about a potential violation of the state.”
Republican governor Brian Kemp late Tuesday threw his support behind this probe. He wrote on Twitter: “The Georgians earn answers. The law enforcement of the states is ready to ensure that justice is served.”
The Attorney General of Georgia, Chris Carr, also Republican, also expressed.
“Based on the video material and news reports I have seen, I am deeply found with the events related to the admission of Ahmaud Arbery,” said Carr in an explanation. “I expect justice to be carried out as soon as possible.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the alleged democratic candidate for President, also burdened it.
Jackie Johnson, Glynn County's prosecutor, has withdrawn from the case because Gregory McMichael worked as an investigator in her office. He retired a year ago. George Barnhill, the first external prosecutor in this case, stepped aside in mid -April at the urging of Arbery's family. Barnhill has a son who works as a deputy prosecutor for Johnson.
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Associated Press Writer Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this story.
