Protestors in Georgia are calling for the removal of the district attorneys who they claim mishandled the case of the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, a young black man who was killed while jogging near Brunswick, Ga., in February.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Glynn County Police Department building in Brunswick wearing face masks and demanding “Justice for Ahmaud.”
Arbery, 25, was allegedly shot by two white men — Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, — who suspected him of burglary.
Gregory McMichael served as an investigator for Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson. McMichael retired last year, but the connection led Johnson to recuse herself from the case to avoid a conflict of interest.
After a second jurisdiction also recused itself over potential conflicts of interest, Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden, who is working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) announced this month that he would present the case to a grand jury.
Arbery’s death gained national attention after footage surfaced showing Arbery running away from two vehicles and struggling with a man over a gun before being shot.
It took a total of 74 days after the shooting for the suspects to be arrested and charged.
“Racism is real in America and racism is real in Brunswick, Georgia and we come today to send a message to the racists and the supremacists that we will fight you with everything that we have,” said Rev. Timothy McDonald, the pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta said at the demonstration, according to Reuters.
Atlanta civil rights attorney Mawuli Davis, 51, was one of the organizers of the demonstration. He told Reuters the case reflects bigger issues within the U.S. justice system.
“If it wasn’t for the video, this would have been swept under the rug,” he told Reuters, referring to the footage of the shooting that was released over a month after his killing occurred.
