Feds to examine police work in Georgia shooting

Georgia’s attorney general on Sunday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate how Glynn County, Ga., law enforcement officials handled the shooting of a 25-year-old African American man on Feb. 23. Authorities on Thursday arrested a father and son and charged them with murder in the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael, both white, told police they confronted Arbery because he matched the description of a suspect in a local burglary. They claimed they shot him in self-defense. Arbery’s relatives said he was out for a jog when the suspects racially profiled, pursued, and killed him. A video of the incident surfaced last week and brought national attention to the case.

Why does the state think the case needs review? Gregory McMichael is a retired investigator for local law enforcement, introducing some conflicts of interest to the initial investigation. The first two investigators assigned to the case recused themselves because of professional relationships with McMichael. The Arberys’ attorney said it took public pressure to get law enforcement to arrest the father and son.

Dig deeper: Read Mickey McLean’s report in The Sift about the release of the video and what it showed.