Attorneys: DOJ investigating Ahmaud Arbery killing as a possible hate crime

An attorney for the Arbery family stands next to a mural of Ahmaud Arbery.

(Image credit: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

last updated 26 May 2020

Attorneys for the family of Ahmaud Arbery said Monday that the Justice Department will investigate Arbery's shooting death as a potential hate crime.

Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was shot and killed on Feb. 23 while jogging through a neighborhood in Glynn County, Georgia. He was unarmed. On May 9, a white father and son — Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34 — were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault against Arbery.

The shooting was captured on video, and the man who recorded the incident, William Bryan, 50, was arrested last week and charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Gregory McMichael told police he and his son followed Arbery because they suspected he was behind a string of burglaries, and claimed Travis McMichael shot Arbery twice after they fought over the son's shotgun.

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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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