Georgia AG Wants Feds to Probe Ahmaud Arbery Case

State attorney general asks Department of Justice to investigate handling of case
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 11, 2020 12:01 AM CDT
Georgia AG Wants Feds to Probe Ahmaud Arbery Case
Lee Merritt, a lawyer representing the family of Ahmaud Arbery, poses for a photo by a mural in the likeness of Arbery painted by artist Theo Ponchaveli in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2020.   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Georgia's attorney general on Sunday asked the US Department of Justice to investigate the handling of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who authorities say died at the hands of two white men as he ran through a neighborhood on Feb. 23. No arrests were made until this month after national outrage over the case swelled when video of the shooting surfaced. “We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,” Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement, per the AP. “The family, the community, and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers.” Also Sunday, Georgia authorities said they had arrested a 20-year-old man after investigating an online threat against people protesting Arbery's killing.

Attorneys for Arbery's mother and father applauded Carr for reaching out to federal officials. “We have requested the involvement of the DOJ since we first took this case," attorneys S. Lee Merritt, Benjamin Crump, and L. Chris Stewart said in a statement. “There are far too many questions about how this case was handled and why it took 74 days for two of the killers to be arrested and charged in Mr. Arbery’s death.” Last week, a Justice Department spokesman said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the DOJ would assist if a federal crime is uncovered. Shortly after the video’s leak, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. The arrests came hours after officials asked the GBI to start investigating. The inquiry was previously in the hands of local officials.

(More Ahmaud Arbery stories.)

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