Georgia man, 20, arrested for threatening Ahmaud Arbery protesters and supporting the suspects on a fake Facebook page after bikers and armed activists demonstrated at the spot where the black jogger was 'lynched'(28 Pics)
Georgia state investigators announced on Sunday that they have arrested a 20-year-old man suspected of creating a fake Facebook account and using it to post a 'hoax' threat against protesters angry over the killing of unarmed black man 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Sunday said state police arrested Rashawn Smith and charged him with dissemination of information relating to terroristic acts.
Smith allegedly created a fake Facebook page and used it to make threats against the protesters.
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'.
It was not immediately clear if Smith has an attorney who could comment on the charge.
Hundreds of people gathered alongside some 300 bikers in Brunswick on Saturday to honor Arbery.
The bikers were seen kneeling at the spot where Arbery was fatally shot on February 23 by two white men who claim they were making a citizen's arrest as they suspected him of a neighborhood burglary.
Several of those in attendance near the Sidney Lanier Bridge wore face masks and t-shirts with the phrase ‘I run with Maud’ in tribute to Arbery.
On February 23, Arbery was jogging in his Satilla Shores neighborhood just outside of Brunswick when he was accosted by Travis and Greg McMichael.
On Saturday bikers were seen kneeling at the spot where Arbery was fatally shot. One of the balloons left at the site reads 'Happy birthday'. Arbery would have turned 26 on Friday
Hundreds of people alongside some 300 bikers gathered in Brunswick to honor Arbery on Saturday
One of about 300 bikers raises his fist during a memorial gathering in Brunswick, Georgia, for Ahmaud Arbery
Some of the protesters held up signs which read 'Our lives matter too!' and 'Dear white people, when you don't call out racism you are upholding white supremacy by default!'
Armed members of the Black Panther movement also took part in the vigil in Brunswick on Saturday
Unarmed Ahmaud Arbery was shot dead by two white men
The father and son had grabbed their guns and gotten into their trucks to follow Arbery when he ran past their home at around 1pm on that day. They suspected was a burglar and went to detain him.
When Arbery resisted, he got into a scuffle with Travis McMichael, who had gotten out of his truck with his weapon and approached the jogger.
Arbery was then shot during the scuffle. Local prosecutors initially declined to bring charges against the two men.
Video emerged on social media showing the fateful moment when Arbery was shot and killed.
After it went viral, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case. On Thursday, GBI officers arrested the McMichaels, who have since been charged with homicide and aggravated assault.
But the case has ignited outrage as local officials have been trying to explain why it took more than two months to charge the two men whose actions resulted in the death of an unarmed person.
The memorial ceremony on Saturday was held just a day after protesters gathered at the same site demanding justice for Arbery on what would have been his 26th birthday.
Protesters are seen on Saturday walking the streets of Satilla Shores, the neighborhood near Brunswick wear Arbery was killed
Protesters were seen walking in the neighborhood where Arbery was gunned down on February 23
A woman holds her cell phone during the vigil on Saturday for Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia
Well-wishers left balloons and flowers at the spot where Arbery was gunned down on February 23
Georgia's attorney general on Sunday asked the Department of Justice to investigate the handling of Arbery's killing.
'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.'
Several hundred bikers descended on the spot where Arbery was shot and killed on Saturday outside of Brunswick
The bikers are seen above in the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Georgia where the shooting took place
Rows of empty bikes are seen in the neighborhood where Arbery was gunned down on February 23
Local and national officials outraged over the shooting called it a 'modern-day lynching.' The image above shows balloons being released near the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick on Saturday
Demonstrators released balloons into the air as they gathered near the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick on Saturday
A protester holds a sign which reads 'No justice no peace' with pictures of Arbery posted alongside
Many of the protesters wore face coverings during the vigil near the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick on Saturday
The image above shows three of the hundreds of bikers who gathered on Saturday near the spot where Arbery was killed
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.
The image above shows a biker near the spot where Arbery was killed. The suspects were arrested earlier this week - more than two months after the shooting
The image above shows several dozen motorbikes parked on Saturday near the spot where Arbery was killed
Many bikers came from all over the country to pay their respects to the 25-year-old unarmed jogger
The bikers are seen above at the entrance to the Satilla Shores neighborhood where the February 23 shooting took place
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.'
Georgia man, 20, arrested for threatening Ahmaud Arbery protesters and supporting the suspects on a fake Facebook page after bikers and armed activists demonstrated at the spot where the black jogger was 'lynched'(28 Pics)
![Georgia man, 20, arrested for threatening Ahmaud Arbery protesters and supporting the suspects on a fake Facebook page after bikers and armed activists demonstrated at the spot where the black jogger was 'lynched'(28 Pics)]()
Reviewed by Your Destination
on
May 11, 2020
Rating:
No comments