Georgia lawmakers demand action in Ahmaud Arbery murder case
BRUNSWICK, Ga. - Georgia lawmakers rallied in Brunswick Tuesday, demanding justice in the Ahmaud Arbery murder investigation.
Ahmad Arbery's family joined Georgia lawmakers at the Historic Brunswick Courthouse to demand Gov. Brian Kemp take action against the local district attorneys who handled the murder case and to call on the state legislature to pass a hate crimes bill.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has now asked the GBI to investigate how district attorneys in Brunswick and Waycross handled the case before recusing themselves.
The 25-year-old was shot and killed in Glynn County in February. It took more than two months, and the release of a video of the shooting before state authorities filed murder charges.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot and killed while out jogging in a south Georgia neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AHMAUD ARBERY SHOOTING
Addressing the crowd during the news conference, State Senator Lester Jackson called upon the Governor, "to suspend from office the first three DA's who horribly mishandled the murder of Ahmaud Aubrey. They did not do their jobs."
Arbery's killing has led to renewed calls for the passage of a state hate crimes bill. The 2019 Georgia Hate Crimes Act passed the House last year but stalled in the Senate.
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Greg McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, are charged with murder in the fatal shooting of the unarmed jogger. Both men claim self-defense in the case.
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Outraged lawmakers say the shooting is a clear case of a racially motivated hate crime and want the Georgia Senate to take up the bill when it reconvenes in June. They want to amend the legislation and rename it the Ahmaud Arbery Hate Crimes Bill."
State lawmakers are also calling for an end to "citizen's arrest" powers and want a review of the state's gun laws, including open carry.