BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Calls for justice are heightening months after Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Southeast Georgia man, was gunned down in a Brunswick neighborhood.
Ahmaud Arbery was killed following a confrontation with a father and son in February. According to the initial Glynn County police report, Gregory and Travis McMichael got in their truck to go after Arbery because they believed he was involved in previous break-ins in the Satilla Shores neighborhood.
Protesters are joining together after video showing the moments leading up to Arbery’s death was released online Tuesday.
People gathered peacefully in the Satilla Shores neighborhood on Tuesday evening. During those demonstrations, Glynn County Sheriff E. Neal Jump said, “Am I upset that it has taken this long for justice to come? As the Sheriff, I’m upset.”
A walk and run in honor of Arbery, who was an avid runner, was held in Atlanta on Wednesday morning.
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S. Lee Merritt, the Arbery family attorney, said he expects arrests Wednesday in Arbery’s death.
“The time for double talk and half measures is over,” Merritt said during a Wednesday news conference with Arbery’s parents, Marcus Arbery and Wanda Clark, and attorney Benjamin Crump, who has joined the family’s legal team.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday evening it has been called in to look into the February death of Ahmaud Arbery, 25.
The GBI said Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden of Liberty County made the request.
Merritt said he is relieved that GBI is investigating and said they should not have to wait for a grand jury to indict for an arrest. They are calling for an arrest to happen Wednesday.
Merritt also said they believe the video coming to light is what helped move this investigation forward.
Cooper talked about the viral video that surfaced this week.
“I haven’t viewed the video. I don’t think that I reached a mental capacity to watch the video. I saw my son come into the world seeing him leave the world is not something I want to see ever,” Cooper said.
Cooper described police telling her about her son’s death. As more evidence and information came out, she said she feels her son was hunted down.
“My son was actually chased, and he was gunned down in the street.” Cooper said.
Merritt and the NAACP Brunswick chapter has asked for immediate action, that the case be brought to a grand jury right away and for arrests to be made.
A protest is scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. at the Glynn County Courthouse. The NAACP said Al Sharpton is expected to attend and they expect no less than 500 people to show up.
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