Ahmaud Marquez Arbery (May 8, 1994 - February 23, 2020) was shot and killed while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia. Three armed white men pursued him. His death resulted in widespread protests in the US and around the world.
He was born to Marcus Arbery Sr. and Wanda Cooper-Jones. Known as “Maud” or “Quez”, he was a star football player at Brunswick High School. He attended South Georgia Technical College, where he trained as an electrician.
He was jogging in Brunswick’s Satilla Shores neighborhood. Using the vehicles to block his path as he tried to run away. Two of the men, Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, were armed in one vehicle. Their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, was in another vehicle. Travis McMichael exited his truck and assaulted him with a shotgun. Travis McMichael fatally shot him. Bryan recorded this confrontation and his murder on his cell phone.
District Attorney George Barnhill determined there was no cause to arrest the individuals involved. He stated that under state law, the McMichaels had legally brandished their firearms and were within their rights to pursue an individual they believed had been involved in criminal activity. Barnhill found the use of deadly force was justified, as McMichael claimed to have been defending himself from what he described as an attack by him.
A video recorded by Bryan was posted online. To many observers, including members of his family, the footage revealed the McMichaels to have been the aggressors who instigated the confrontation, with him fighting back in self-defense. Bryan informed investigators that Travis McMichael had used a racial epithet while standing over his dead body.
On May 8, supporters around the country paid tribute to him by jogging 2.23 miles, a reference to the date he was killed. In June 2020, motivated by his killing, Georgia enacted new hate crime laws.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reopened the case in response to public outrage over the video. Agents arrested the McMichaels and Bryan, charging all three with felony murder, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #blm