UL of Greater Atlanta Statement on Shooting Death of Ahmaud Arbery

The Urban League of Greater Atlanta (Atlanta, GA) and the ULGA Young Professionals and ULGA Guild join the national outcry for justice in the case of Ahmaud Arbery. We are relieved by the news that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has arrested two of the men involved in his murder. We call on the Bureau to also arrest the third man who allegedly was an accomplice, videotaping the two men as they accosted and shot Arbery to death.

George McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, are identified as the two who are seen in a video following and murdering the unarmed 25-year-old who was jogging in a Brunswick, Georgia neighborhood. Travis’s neighbor, William Bryan, is said to have been in a separate vehicle videotaping the incident. We believe all three should be held accountable. 

As part of seeking justice for Mr. Arbery’s family, we also call for an independent investigation into not only the case but how it was handled by local authorities from the start, why the video was not released earlier, and why no arrests were made as soon as authorities were notified that an unarmed man had been shot to death in broad daylight.

Our state and our nation have a history of taking the murder of unarmed black men lightly. We demand that the criminal justice system employ the same standards of accountability regardless of the race of the victims and the perpetrators.

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