Georgia AG asks the US Justice Department to investigate Ahmaud Arbery's shooting as it's revealed top prosecutor who recused himself said slaying by two armed white men was 'justifiable homicide'
Georgia's attorney general on Sunday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the handling of the investigation into the killing of unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot dead by two white men.
Arbery was killed on February 23 but no arrests were made until Thursday after national outrage over the case swelled last week when video surfaced that showed the shooting which was blasted as a 'lynching'.
'We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,' Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement.
'The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers.'
George Barnhill, Sr (left), the top prosecutor for the Waycross Judicial Circuit, told police in February that the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery (right), 25, by two white men was a 'justifiable homicide'
Attorneys for Arbery's mother and father applauded Carr for reaching out to federal officials.
'We have requested the involvement of the DOJ since we first took this case,' attorneys S. Lee Merritt, Benjamin Crump and L. Chris Stewart said in a statement.
'There are far too many questions about how this case was handled and why it took 74 days for two of the killers to be arrested and charged in Mr. Arbery's death.'
Last week, a Justice Department spokesman said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the DOJ would assist if a federal crime is uncovered.
It comes after it emerged the Georgia district attorney who recused himself from the case told investigators that the fatal shooting was a 'justifiable homicide' and that the father and son duo who killed Arbery should not be charged.
George Barnhill, Sr, the top prosecutor for the Waycross Judicial Circuit, told police in Glynn County on February 24 – the day after the shooting – that there was insufficient evidence to charge Travis McMichael, 34, and his 64-year-old father, former police officer Greg McMichael.
The Glynn County Police Department released a statement to The Brunswick News on Saturday saying Travis and Greg McMichael were brought in for questioning at around 3.30pm on February 23.
Ex-cop Gregory McMichael, 64, is pictured left during his first court appearance on Friday. Hi son Travis is seen right. Both have been charged with Arbery's murder
Just after 1pm on that day, Arbery, a 25-year-old former high school football player and avid runner, went out for a jog in his Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia.
As Arbery ran past the McMichaels' home, the two men grabbed two shotguns, got into their truck and followed him.
Video which surfaced in recent days showed Travis McMichael get out of the truck and accost Arbery while brandishing his weapon.
Arbery is then seen trying to fight off McMichael before collapsing to the ground after he had apparently been shot.
Barnhill had determined that there were no legal grounds to arrest and try the McMichaels since Georgia's arrest and self-defense laws allow citizens to detain anyone suspected of committing a crime.
The Glynn County Police Department says that Barnhill, Sr recused himself from the case on April 6 – five days after receiving the results of the autopsy.
Barnhill's recusal was also demanded by Arbery's family because the district attorney's son, George Barnhill, Jr, worked as an assistant district attorney in the Brunswick District Attorney's Office.
Brunswick DA Jackie Johnson blocked police from arresting a father and son accused of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery because one of them used to work in her office, it is claimed
Before his retirement in 2019, Greg McMichaels worked as an investigator in that same office.
The McMichaels were arrested on Thursday after the case was turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
Earlier this week, two Glynn County commissioners said that the current Brunswick District Attorney, Jackie Johnson, also blocked police from arresting the McMichaels because she was friends with Gregory McMichael.
Officers investigating the scene of the fatal shooting on February 23 told Johnson's office that they had cause to arrest the father and son at the time but the DA shut them down.
Gregory McMichael had worked as an investigator in her office until his retirement in 2019 causing Johnson to recuse herself from the case a few days after the shooting.
'She shut them down to protect her friend McMichael,' Glynn County Commissioner Allen Booker told The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
A picture shared by Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, on his 25th birthday. Protesters gather in Brunswick, Georgia, Friday on what would have been his 26th birthday, a day after two men were arrested for his murder on February 23
Ex-cop Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested in Brunswick, Georgia, Thursday and charged with murder and aggravated assault of Ahmaud Arbery after this shocking video was released earlier this week
Shocking cellphone video captured the moment the McMichaels confronted Arbery in the street. In the footage Travis is seen engaging in a physical fight with Arbery before shooting him with a shotgun
The McMichaels made their first court appearance individually Friday afternoon via a video link from inside the Glynn County jail.
Magistrate Judge Wallace Harrell ruled that bond on both charges would have to be set by a superior court judge. Both men were read their rights and spoke only to confirm their names.
Neither had attorneys representing them in court and no further hearing dates were scheduled.
The father and son have said they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before.
Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.
On Saturday, the GBI confirmed that it has obtained other photos of video that might shed light on the case.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published footage from a surveillance camera at a Brunswick home near where Arbery was shot that shows someone who appears to be Arbery walking into a home under construction.
Arbery then came back out and ran down the street. Someone else comes out across the street from the construction site, and then a vehicle drives off farther down the street, near where Travis McMichael lives.
Lawyers for Arbery's family say the video bolsters their position that Arbery did nothing wrong, and shows he did not commit a felony.
Under Georgia law, someone who isn't a sworn police officer can arrest and detain another person only if a felony is committed in the presence of the arresting citizen.
'Ahmaud's actions at this empty home under construction were in no way a felony under Georgia law,' the lawyers wrote in a social media post.
'This video confirms that Mr. Arbery's murder was not justified and the actions of the men who pursued him and ambushed him were unjustified.'
The social justice arm of Jay-Z´s Roc Nation entertainment company on Sunday called on Georgia officials to take quick action in the case.
The new video, which appears to have been captured by a home security camera near the scene of the shooting, shows a man believed to be Arbery walking down a street before walking into the garage of a property under construction
Also Sunday, Georgia authorities said they had arrested a 20-year-old man after investigating an online threat against people protesting the killing of Arbery.
Several hundred people had protested the case Friday and Saturday in Brunswick, near the site where Arbery was fatally shot.
The GBI said state police arrested Rashawn Smith and charged him with dissemination of information relating to terroristic acts.
He was taken into custody in Midway, a town about 50 miles north of Brunswick.
Earlier in the day, the GBI said it had 'been made aware of a Facebook post that contains a threat to future protests related to Ahmaud Arbery.'
Investigators later said they believe the threat was a hoax.
'Smith created a Facebook User ID of an unwitting individual to post a hoax threat,' the GBI tweeted.
It was not immediately clear if Smith has an attorney who could comment on the charge.
Exclusive photos show the moment Gregory McMichael (pictured) and his son Travis McMichael were arrested at their home in Brunswick, Georgia, on Thursday
Travis said nothing as he was led to a waiting law enforcement vehicle in handcuffs
Georgia AG asks the US Justice Department to investigate Ahmaud Arbery's shooting as it's revealed top prosecutor who recused himself said slaying by two armed white men was 'justifiable homicide'
![Georgia AG asks the US Justice Department to investigate Ahmaud Arbery's shooting as it's revealed top prosecutor who recused himself said slaying by two armed white men was 'justifiable homicide']()
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