President Trump met with the family of Ahmaud Arbery on Tuesday, along with the families of other victims of police brutality, before signing his executive order aimed at addressing police misconduct.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said of the meeting, “I think the president was very receiving. He’s very compassionate. He did assure each family member that we would and should expect change,” reports Fin Gomez of CBS News.
Arbery was killed in Georgia on Feb. 23 while out for a jog. His death, along with the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, have sparked protests nationwide on the state of race relations. Trump’s actions come in response to that movement.
When asked about the president’s order, Cooper-Jones replied that she didn’t think it was enough but that “it’s a start.”
Seemingly contradicting Cooper-Jones, Shaun King, a spokesman for an attorney representing the family, told USA Today that the conversation was “very contentious.” He continued that the meeting seemed to be “arranged less to hear about these families that had been horribly impacted by this police violence” and more so “an opportunity for Trump and [Attorney General William] Barr and others to highlight police unions who were there.”
King tweeted that the families opted out of attending the president’s signing. The president was, instead, surrounded by members of the law enforcement community.
