Father and son arrested, charged with murder in shooting of Ahmaud Arbery

(Image credit: Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

last updated 8 May 2020

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested on Thursday for the deadly shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced. They have been charged with murder and aggravated assault.

On Feb. 23, Arbery was jogging through a a Glynn County neighborhood when the armed McMichaels pursued him in a pickup truck. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the father and son confronted Arbery with "two firearms" and "during the encounter, Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery." Video of the shooting was posted online this week.

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Gregory McMichael, now retired, was an investigator for Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson, who recused herself from the case. The case has received national attention, in part because the McMichaels are white and Arbery black, and an earlier prosecutor had advised no charges in the case. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said it would open an investigation into the shooting after the video became public.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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