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What Happened?

 

On February 23, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was jogging near his home when he was followed and shot to death by two white men, Gregory and Travis McMichaels.

 

The pair, who are father and son, claim that Arbery resembled a suspect in a string of robberies that had recently hit the neighborhood. Armed with shotguns, they got in their pick-up truck and set out to pursue him.

 

Viral video of the incident shows Arbery jogging down a street before reaching the McMichaels’ parked pick-up truck. Arbery seems to try to avoid them, jogging around the side of the vehicle, when a shot rings outs.

 

What’s Being Done About It?

 

The case passed through the hands of three different prosecutors before the men were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault -- more than two months after Arbery’s death, following public outcry and demands for justice. The Department of Justice is also considering possible federal hate crime charges in the case.

 

The first two prosecutors, District Attorneys Jackie Johnson and George E. Barnhill, recused themselves from investigating the case because of their previous connections to the McMichaels through law enforcement work. Barnhill went so far as to publicly absolve the McMichaels of wrongdoing, saying there was no grounds for their arrest.

 

How Are People Responding?

 

The arrests were largely driven by the release of the video and the public outcry that resulted. People nationwide are demanding justice for Arbery, with some organizing protests and others running in his honor on what would have been his 26th birthday. Among them were several DoSomething members who joined in to #RunWithMaud.

 

Arbery’s jogging death has sparked larger conversations about the risks that Black individuals face when existing in majority-white spaces, where they can be groundlessly perceived as threatening for benign behavior. Moreover, the 74 days it took for suspects to be arrested in connection to it reveals the challenges of seeking justice for this kind of discrimination -- especially when it involves former or current members of law enforcement.

 

What’s This About a “Citizen’s Arrest”?

 

The McMichaels argue that they acted under Georgia’s citizen arrest laws, though they ultimately behaved as judge, jury, and executioners in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man.

 

Citizen’s arrest laws allow for civilians to detain individuals who have commited a crime under certain circumstances. In Georgia, where the fatal shooting took place, a citizen's arrest can be done if there’s “immediate knowledge” that a person has committed a felony. Even then, citizens are only legally allowed to use deadly force to actively stop a felony or in self-defense.

 

Does That Apply Here?

 

That’s ultimately up to the prosecutors to argue and the jury to decide, but here’s what we know.

 

The only additional evidence to surface so far is surveillance video of a man who may be Arbery walking up to a house under construction, looking around the open site, and leaving without taking anything. At most, the behavior could be considered a misdemeanor under Georgia law.

 

Meanwhile, the owners of the property have come out in public support of Arbery’s family, describing his death as a “tragedy.”

 

Take Action: In just one week, state officials did what local prosecutors failed to do for two months. Demand that District Attorneys Barnhill and Johnson be removed from office for their mishandling of Arbery’s case.

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