The two men implicated in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, 25, have been arrested. Gregory McMichael, 64, and son Travis McMichael, 34, are both charged with murder and aggravated assault, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Thursday night.
The defendants were arrested and were to be booked at the Glynn County Jail.
The shooting took place on Feb. 23. At the time, the elder McMichael allegedly told police they believed Arbery was the suspect in the series of recent burglaries. Arbery attacked Travis, according to this account. No charges were immediately filed, and the case went to its third prosecutor because of conflicts of interest for the first two. Gregory McMichael was a former police officer and investigator for the district attorney in Brunswick.
Newly released footage, however, ignited further public scrutiny on the case, and spurred authorities to put more attention on it. It appeared to show anything but self-defense by the McMichaels. Arbery’s family has said that he was regular jogger. The GBI only recently got involved in the homicide investigation, saying they were only previously asked by local cops to look into alleged threats against the Glynn County Police Department and other people.
The McMichaels have not publicly discussed the matter. They declined to comment in a CBS report released Wednesday.
S. Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery’s mother, and Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for his father, both lauded the development.
[Image via Twitter/Ben Crump screengrab]