ATLANTA — Authorities have announced arrests in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the man shot and killed by two armed men while jogging through a south Georgia neighborhood.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced that Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were both arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. They were taken into custody and were booked in the Glynn County Jail, the agency said. No bond has been issued, according to a county official.
The arrests come months after authorities said the pair followed and confronted Arbery with guns, after they said he looked like a man they suspected of breaking into houses in their Brunswick, Georgia neighborhood. During the encounter, Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery, authorities said.
The McMichaels had remained free in the months following the Feb. 23 shooting, as the case shuffled from one District Attorney's office to another. The two DAs closest to the case both recused themselves over possible conflicts of interest.
But calls for their arrests grew to a crescendo after video surfaced, showing the apparent shooting.
The case finally landed with Tom Durden from Atlantic Judicial Circuit, and, after viewing the video, he recommended that it be presented before a grand jury for criminal charges. Hours later, that same special prosecutor requested the GBI formally investigate the case.
Since, both Governor Brian Kemp and GBI director Vic Reynolds have promised that the situation will be thoroughly investigated, in order to "seek the truth" of what happened.
In a statement to 11Alive, an attorney working with Arbery's family said while they are relived to hear of the arrest, they are devastated because it’s not over.
"There are three steps: arrest, guilty verdict and a long sentence," Chris Stewart said.
Meanwhile, the GBI said they plan to release more information during a press conference in Brunswick, Georgia at 9 a.m.
A Friday rally by the Brunswick chapter of the NAACP, planned on what would have been Arbery's 26th birthday, is still scheduled to go on.
"We are excited about this small victory but know we still have work to do," a spokesman said. "So, the rally continue and we look to hold our local DA and law enforcement accountable for their failure to arrest.”
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