In late February of 2020, before  COVID -19 dominated the news cycle, a 25 year-old jogger named Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed on a run in his neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia.

According to The Insider news site,  64 year-old Gregory McMichael and his 34 year-old son Travis McMichael, allegedly mistaking Arbery for a burglary suspect, chased the young, unarmed man down in their pick up truck. A third man, Roddie Bryan, followed in his vehicle, boxing Arbery in.  Byran filmed the incident on his phone.

After the younger McMiichael tried to detain Abrery at gunpoint, three shotgun blasts were fired, two of them into Arbery’s chest.

Arbery was buried six days later while the murders stayed peacefully at home with no repercussion.

This is enough to send outrage through most, but what hasn’t been mentioned  is something we all know.  Arbery was an African American , and the McMichaels  and Bryan are white.

Two months later, the three were arrested and charged  for the killing. 

According to the New York Times, the defense attorney leaked the graphic footage of Arbery’s death on social media. The purpose of this was not to convict them of a crime but to spread awareness about what is still happening today.

This video spread outrage to the world and caused a movement to stop racist violence rose.

The pre-trial hearing in set for early June.