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Friday, March 29, 2024

'Sufficient probable cause' for murder charges in GA jogger death: official

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'Sufficient probable cause' for murder charges in GA jogger death: official
'Sufficient probable cause' for murder charges in GA jogger death: official

VIc Reynolds, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, told reporters on Friday that there is "sufficient probable cause" to charge Gregory and Travis McMichaels with felony murder and aggravated assault in February's shooting death of an unarmed black man.

"We applied the law to the facts pretty quickly with a solid belief that there's sufficient probable cause to charge the McMichaels with felony murder and aggravated assault.

I can tell you if we didn't believe it, we wouldn't have arrested them.

If we believe it, then we're going to put the bracelets on them - and that's exactly what we did yesterday evening," said Reynolds on Friday.

A white former police officer and his son were arrested on Thursday in Georgia and charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man, an incident that touched off a furor in the community and among civil rights activists nationwide.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, were taken into custody by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and charged with aggravated assault as well as murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in the town of Brunswick, the agency said in a statement.

The Feb.

23 shooting death of Arbery, 25, as he ran unarmed through the small town was captured on video by an unnamed witness in a vehicle near the scene.

The video's wide broadcast in recent days ignited outrage among activists, politicians and celebrities who saw the incident as the latest case of white perpetrators killing a black man and going unpunished.

It was not immediately clear on Thursday if the two men had retained attorneys.

A district attorney appointed to handle the high-profile case after two other prosecutors recused themselves said on Wednesday he would ask a county grand jury to decide if the two men should face charges.

The men's arrest by the GBI, one day after the agency opened an investigation into the case, appears to have sidelined any grand jury probe.

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