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ATLANTA (Reuters) – The family of Ahmaud Arbery, the black runner whose fatal shooting in Georgia sparked a national outcry, appealed Thursday to any new witnesses to the murder who came forward after a note was found saying “I should have stopped them.” . in his memorial
The single-page note was discovered earlier this week by a television news team at the memorial, located in the victim’s hometown of Brunswick, about 300 miles (480 km) southeast of Atlanta.
More than two months after the February 23 murder, a former white police officer and his son, who were seen on video chasing the 25-year-old runner, were arrested last week and charged with aggravated assault and murder. .
S. Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Arbery family, said in a statement that the family believes the person who left the note is a witness to the February 23 shooting.
“They have great sympathy for the person who wrote that note and would like to speak to them to determine what they knew or what they saw,” the lawyer said in a statement.
The shooting recalled a series of murders of black men in recent years that involved white police officers or former officers. Outrage at the killings and response to them by the United States criminal justice system led to the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement and national protests.
“Ahmaud, I’m so sorry. I should have stopped you. I’m so sorry,” says the full note. It was published on the Internet by various media.
The two suspects, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, were arrested and charged on May 7, after the local district attorney asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate the case.
Their arrests came just days after the release of the video, which triggered the national fury led by civil rights activists and celebrities.
The US Department of Justice. USA It also launched an investigation into why the charges were not filed earlier and whether to charge federal hate crime suspects.
A caravan of protesters plans to drive more than 300 miles from Atlanta to Brunswick on Saturday to draw attention to the case.
(Report by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Edited by Dan Grebler)
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