A Georgia Republican demanded an investigation into the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was shot while jogging.
“What I saw on the video is disturbing and wrong and looks like a criminal act. It must be thoroughly investigated and I can’t imagine why it has taken this long to come to light,” Rep. Doug Collins tweeted Thursday.
“My heart is torn for the family of Ahmaud Arbery. I lift them up and ask for God’s hand of love and comfort to guide them in this time of need,” he said.
My heart is torn for the family of Ahmaud Arbery. I lift them up and ask for God’s hand of love and comfort to guide them in this time of need.
— Doug Collins (@CollinsforGA) May 7, 2020
Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler said she was “deeply concerned by the troubling death.”
“I join Georgians across the state in calling for swift action and immediate answers in the wake of this tragedy,” she said in a statement Wednesday. “I anticipate a thorough and rigorous investigation will be conducted, and that it will deliver much-needed clarity and justice in this case.”
Video of the Feb. 23 shooting released earlier this week showed two white men with guns confronting Arbery while he was on his run in a southern Georgia neighborhood. Gregory McMichael, a 64-year-old former police officer, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, pursued Arbery and later told police they suspected he had committed a recent burglary.
More than two months after the killing, no arrests have been made or charges filed.
An outside prosecutor in charge of the case said he wants a grand jury to decide whether criminal charges are warranted, but courts in Georgia are largely closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“[The video] proves that my son was not committing a crime. He was out for his daily jog, and he was hunted down like an animal and killed,” said Wanda Jones, Arbery’s mother.
