Cops FINALLY arrest Georgia father and Son, Gregory and Travis McMichael for the MURDER of unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, 25, following public outcry as video of his fatal shooting went viral and his family called killing a ‘lynching’
Self-styled vigilante duo of Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested at their home in Brunswick, Georgia, on Thursday
Heavily-armed officers with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation descended on the home at around 7.50pm
The pair shot and killed unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, 25, after his family on April 23 in Brunswick, Georgia
They were arrested on murder charges after two prosecutors in different counties had refused to bring charges – They upheld the claim by father and son that they thought Arbery was a burglar
The case escalated after public outcry when a viral video of his fatal shooting was published, making headlines nationwide – Arbery’s family described his killing as a ‘lynching’, demanding justice
The footage showed the two men ‘ambushing’ Arbery as he tried to run past their pickup truck, with the younger McMichael striding towards the jogger, shotgun held in his right hand
Travis McMichael got into a physical fight with Arbery before shooting him with a shotgun at close range, three times
Gregory and Travis McMichael were led out of their home in handcuffs and booked into Glynn County Jail on charges of murder and aggravated assault on Thursday night
In a new twist, the GBI said it was also investigating threats made towards its officers and people involved in the investigation
Reported triggerman 34-year-old Travis McMichael is marched out of the home in handcuffs by an officer with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
The father and son were initially not arrested after they told police they were compelled to act because they believed Arbery was a burglar after a spate of thefts in their area. When they tried to stop him in a bid to make a citizen’s arrest, the victim attacked them before the shot him in self defense.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation on Tuesday after the video emerged.
On Thursday a dozen agents from the bureaus equipped with bulletproof vests and assault rifles descended on the McMichaels’ two-bedroom property in suburban Brunswick to execute arrest warrants and took the pair into custody.
The men were booked into Glynn County Jail on charges of murder and aggravated assault.
Father and son ‘vigilate duo’ of Gregory and Travis McMichael [left] were booked on charges of murder and aggravated assault for the shooting death of unarmed jogger Ahmaud Arbery [right] on Thursday
Wearing a scruffy black shirt, cap and jeans the Gregory McMichael stared straight ahead as he was placed in a police car.
34-old Travis, wearing a checked shirt, cap and jeans was marched out moments later , wearing dark sunshades as he was led to a vehicle in handcuffs.
The agents were at the house for about ten minutes before the left as abruptly as they had arrived.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a statement shortly after the swoops saying the two men were arrested on suspicion of murder and aggravated assault.
And in a fresh twist, the agency said it was also investigating threats made towards its officers and people involved in the investigation.
The four-vehicle convoy bearing agents from the GBI pulled up outside the home of Gregory and Travis McMichael in Brunswick, Ga., just before 8pm Thursday to execute the arrest warrants
First to be taken into custody was ex-cop Gregory McMichael, 64, in handcuffs
Moments later his son Travis McMichael, 34, emerged , wearing a checked shirt, cap and jeans to be marched into a waiting vehicle. Travis reportedly, blasted Arbery with a shotgun at close range, several times
10 minutes after a swarm of GBI officers arrived at the McMichael’s home in Brunswick on Thursday, the arrest warrants had been executed, the suspects cuffed and transported away
The case: In this stills from the footage released by a neighbor, Travis McMicheal armed with a shot gun strides towards Arbery. A shot can be heard as the two appear to scuffle. Two more shots can be heard, all fired at point-blank range before
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she believes her son, a former football player, was just jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood before he was killed on a Sunday afternoon.
Gregory McMichael told police he suspected the runner was the same man filmed by a security camera committing a break-in. He and his grown son, Travis McMichael, grabbed guns and began a pursuit in the truck.
The video shows a black man running at a jogging pace on the left side of a road. A truck is parked in the road ahead of him. One of the white men is inside the pickup’s bed. The other is standing beside the open driver’s side door.
The runner crosses the road to pass the pickup on the passenger side, then crosses back in front of the truck.
A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the runner grappling with a man in the street over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle.
A second shot can be heard, and the runner can be seen punching the man.
A third shot is fired at point-blank range.
The runner staggers a few feet and falls face down.
Brunswick defense attorney Alan Tucker identified himself Thursday as the person who shared the video with the radio station.
In a statement, Tucker said he does not currently represent anyone involved in the case. He said he released the video ‘because my community was being ripped apart by erroneous accusations and assumptions.’
The outcry over the killing reached the White House, where President Donald Trump offered condolences Thursday to Arbery’s family.
‘It’s a very sad thing,’ Trump said in the Oval Office, ‘but I will be given a full report this evening.’
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has called Arbery´s death a ‘murder.’ During an online roundtable Thursday, Biden compared the video to seeing Arbery ‘lynched before our very eyes.’
After Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from the case because Gregory McMichael worked as an investigator in her office. He retired last year.
George Barnhill, the second prosecutor to be given the case who preemptively vindicated the McMichaels by declaring in his report that the unarmed victim, Ahmaud Arbery ‘initiated’ and reached for the gun.


George Barnhill report on the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
In an April 2 letter to the Glynn County Police Department Barn states that Gregory McMichael nor his son deserved to be charged because they were firstly lawful in pursuing Arbery with their guns and then in shooting him.
He made the case that they were trying to make a citizen’s arrest by chasing Arbery and that they had ‘solid probable cause for it’, claiming Arbery was a burglary suspect.
It should be noted that McMichael Sr. had been a member of Glynn County PD for seven years and making the citizen’s arrest is legal in Georgia.
Around a dozen GBI officers equipped with bulletproof vests and assault rifles descended on the McMichaels’ two-bedroom property in suburban Brunswick to execute arrest warrants on Thursday evening
The pair intended to subdue Arbery until police arrived but that Arbery ‘initiated’ a fight by grabbing for Travis McMichael’s gun, the older McMichael claimed, there by justifying the use of lethal force by his son – ‘lawful’ is the word he used, because he thinks it constitutes a stand your ground killing, adding that Travis McMichael feared for his life so did not break the law by using deadly force.The start of their fight happens out of the Barnhill concludes that Arbery’s wounds – namely the first of three which was in his right palm – showed he had reached for the gun.
He reinforces his conclusion with the claim that Arbery had a ‘history of mental health and prior convictions’.
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