The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced in a news release that Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, had both been jailed on charges of murder and aggravated assault.
Georgia authorities arrested a white father and son Thursday and charged them with murder in the February shooting death of a black man they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood.
The charges came more than two months after Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on a residential street just outside the port city of Brunswick. National outrage over the case swelled this week after a cellphone video that appeared to show the shooting.
Gregory McMichael told police after the February shooting that he and his son chased after Arbery because they suspected him of being a burglar. 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.
RELATED: What the ‘Modern-Day Lynching’ of Ahmaud Arbery Says About Stand Your Ground Laws
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrests the day after it began its own investigation at the request of an outside prosecutor. The agency said in a news release that Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, had both been jailed on charges of murder and aggravated assault.
The GBI news release said the McMichaels “confronted Arbery with two firearms. During the encounter, Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery.” No other details were immediately released.
It was not immediately known if either of the McMichaels had an attorney who could comment on the charges.
RELATED: ‘Lives of African Americans Don’t Seem To Amount To Much’
Gregory McMichael served as an investigator for Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson. He retired last year. The connection caused Johnson to recuse herself from the case.
At a news conference before the arrests were announced Thursday, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters he was confident state investigators would “find the truth.”
“Earlier this week, I watched the video depicting Mr. Arbery’s last moments alive,” Kemp told a news conference in Atlanta. “I can tell you it’s absolutely horrific, and Georgians deserve answers.”
Politics
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to let Arizona doctors provide abortions in California
California law generally allows abortion up to the point of fetal viability, which is around 24 weeks. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Arizona doctors...
VIDEO: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes indicts 18 ‘fake electors’
@coppercourier An Arizona grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and 16...
Local News
Escape the heat at these indoor pools in Tucson
Arizona: it's synonymous with sunny. Mix that sun with the sprawling urban blacktops and the result is the nationally recognized heat that is...
We asked, you answered: 7 music venues in Arizona for a more intimate show
The biggest artists in the world come to Arizona to perform at places like Footprint Center, State Farm Stadium, and Desert Diamond Arena. But what...