Ahmaud Arbery shooting investigated as a hate crime as FBI launch criminal probe into Georgia cops and DAs, lawyer says
THE shooting death of black jogger Ahmaud Arbery will be investigated as a hate crime, the family's lawyer has claimed.
He says federal agents have also launched a criminal inquiry into two district attorneys and the local police department in Georgia that failed to arrest the gunmen for over two months.
The developments come amid rising racial tensions after the death of another unarmed black man, .
Ahmaud, 25, was shot by ex-cop Gregory McMichael and his son Travis on February 23 in Brunswick, GA.
The pair claim he matched the description of a burglary suspect, and told cops they shot him in self-defense.
But the case made headlines around the world after video emerged of the father and son chasing him down in their car before the fatal struggle.
Lawyer Lee Merritt, who represents the Arbery family, said he met Department of Justice officials last week who confirmed the killing will be investigated as a hate crime.
The federal charge carries a life sentence if it involves a death - and it would also supersede any state case such as the McMichaels' pending murder trial.
It comes as an investigation is also launched into the Glynn County police department and two DAs who were involved in the original decision not to prosecute the McMichaels.
Merritt described the botched investigation as a "wide conspiracy".
He told , he said: "They’re spreading the net here.
"They said the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) doesn’t anticipate making any additional arrests, but the FBI very well may."
And he added: “This case makes it clear that all black citizens in south Georgia aren’t getting the same protection because if you shoot anybody in the street in broad daylight, just in general you expect at least an arrest. There were no arrests made.”
The DoJ confirmed last week a probe was under way “to determine if federal hate crime charges are appropriate”.
Meanwhile another case in Minneapolis has fueled claimed of racial violence in the US.
George Floyd, 46, died after he was filmed in .
Cops say Floyd resisted arrest, but video shows large crowds pleading with the cop to release him.
The officer did not do so until medical personnel arrive and took the then unconscious Floyd to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The , and the death sparked huge protests with s in response.
Another case adding to tensions arose from video of a white dog walker calling 911 and falsely claiming a black man was threatening her life after he asked to leash her dog in New York's Central Park.
Investment banker Amy Cooper has since , but denies she was racist.
following the slew of incidents discriminating against black men across America.
She said: "Sometimes it's not a safe place to be in this country for black men."
LATEST NEWS
added: "I am speechless. I am really, really speechless about what we’re seeing on television this morning.
"It feels to me like open season … and that sometimes it’s not a safe place to be in this country for black men."
"As the daughter of a black man and the mother of a black man, this is really too much for me today," she added.
