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President Donald Trump called the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man in the US state of Georgia, “a very disturbing situation.”
Arbery was running in February when Gregory McMichael and his son Travis, who are white, confronted him. Now they face murder and assault charges.
“My heart goes out to parents and family and friends,” Trump told Fox News on Friday.
The case drew national attention when the video of the death appeared on Tuesday.
Police had not charged the McMichaels for more than two months, but the couple were detained Thursday by the state investigative office.
Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, are in the custody of the Glynn County Sheriff’s Department, officials said Friday.
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EPA
Protests have been organized in Georgia, Florida and online.
Both were charged with serious murder and aggravated assault.
State investigators previously said that the father and son had followed Mr. Arbery and confronted him with two firearms, and the young McMichael shot and killed him.
Arbery would have turned 26 on Friday. There have been out-of-court protests in Glynn County and neighboring Jacksonville, Florida.
Online, Mr. Arbery’s supporters have been using the hashtag #IRunWithMaud, sharing photos, and running 3.23 miles (3.6 km) in remembrance of the day of his death, February 23.
What did Trump say?
Speaking on the Fox & Friends show on Friday morning, the president said he had seen the video, which he described as “troublesome” to anyone who has seen it.
Trump said the state governor and law enforcement would examine the case “with great force.”
When asked about the racial issues at stake in the case, the president said “doing justice is what solves that problem.”
“But it is heartbreaking.”
The daughter of the President and adviser to the White House, Ivanka Trump also intervened, asking in a tweet “why it apparently took months, the release of a video and the corresponding public outrage to catalyze the action.”
In a subsequent briefing, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked if the United States Department of Justice would be involved in the case. Mrs. McEnany did not rule out the possibility.
A justice department spokesman told the BBC that the FBI is helping with the investigation.
“As is the standard protocol, we look forward to working with them in case the information comes to light of a possible federal violation,” the statement said.
What did the family say?
“I just want justice for my son,” Arbery’s father Marcus told CNN on Friday. He said the arrest was a “relief” to the family and described the murder of his son as “lynching.”
“He was a very good young man,” Arbery said of his son. “His heart was bigger than life.”
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Benjamin Crump, a family lawyer, requested the same justice for Arbery as if the situations were reversed and Arbery and his father had attacked an unarmed white man.
“We know without a doubt that they would have been arrested on the first day,” Crump said, adding that he does not trust the local police department.
He called the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to investigate officers who did not arrest the McMichaels.
“Either they were incompetent or it was intentional.”
What is the status of the investigation?
GBI Director Vic Reynolds told reporters at a press conference on Friday that the McMichaels had been detained without incident.
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Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Travis McMichael (left) and Gregory McMichael were arrested Thursday
He said the investigation is ongoing. The person who filmed the video, another local man, is also under investigation.
When asked about the previous police investigation into the case, Reynolds said he was unable to comment, but had “come to a good point.”
Reynolds also noted that his agents were able to obtain murder orders within 36 hours.
“I think that speaks volumes for itself that the probable cause was clear to our agents very quickly.”
He said that in a “perfect world” his agency would have been involved in February, but at the end of the case, “every stone will be delivered, I promise.”
On Tuesday, the Atlantic Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden ruled that a grand jury should consider the case and accepted Governor Brian Kemp’s offer to investigate the GBI.
Durden is the third prosecutor involved, as two local district attorneys eventually recused themselves due to professional connections with Gregory McMichael, who was a former police detective.
Two county commissioners told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that in February, District Attorney Jackie Johnson did not allow police to arrest the McMichaels immediately after the shooting.
“Police at the scene went to her and said they were ready to arrest them both,” said Commissioner Allen Booker. He claimed that Mrs. Johnson “closed them to protect her friend. [Gregory] McMichael. “
His office has not commented on the local media and did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.
The second lawyer had told police that he believed the father and son had used citizens’ arrest rights to confront Arbery.
The shooting has sparked a wave of outrage from national figures, including presidential candidate Joe Biden and basketball star LeBron James.
Biden said Arbery had been “shot dead in cold blood” and “essentially lynched before our very eyes.”
Mr. James tweeted: “We are literally hunted EVERY DAY / EVERY MOMENT, we leave the comfort of our homes!”
How did Arbery die?
Arbery went jogging through the city of Brunswick in the early afternoon of February 23, something his father said he did often.
Gregory McMichael told police that he believed Arbery looked like the suspect in a series of local robberies.
Mr. McMichael and his son armed themselves with a pistol and shotgun and chased Mr. Arbery in a van in the Satilla Shores neighborhood.
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fake pictures
Mr. McMichael told police that he asked Arbery to stop and speak, and claims that the 25-year-old attacked his son.
The 36-second clip appears to show young McMichael firing a shotgun at point-blank range at Mr. Arbery and the victim falling to the street.
