The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating Ahmaud Arbery’s shooting death as a hate crime, according to the Arbery’s family’s attorney, S. Lee Merritt, CNN reports.
The case of Arbery, who was gunned down while jogging through a Georgia suburb on February 23, has sparked nationwide attention recently, as questions arose about why no charges were originally brought against the White father and son, Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael, respectively, who chased after him and ultimately killed him.
And, according to First Coast News, the Justice Department is also investigating two district attorneys who recused themselves from the case due to connections to the McMichaels.
“The acts [the DOJ] are looking into are the actions of the men involved, whether or not they fit into the federal hate crime statute or the federal protections offered by the hate crime statute,” Merritt told First Coast News.
“They are also looking at 14th amendment violations by state actors,” the attorney added, referencing Brunswick D.A. Jackie Johnson and Ware County D.A. George Barnhill.
Gregory McMichael was once employed as an investigator in Johnson’s office, prompting the Brunswick district attorney to recuse herself.
Barnhill’s son works in the Brunswick District Attorney’s Office and worked with Gregory McMichael on a prior prosecution of Arbery, but only recused himself at the insistence of Arbery’s family…and even then only after he provided a written statement saying that the killing was justifiable.
However, Merritt added that the family is now feeling better, now that some movement has been made on the case after two months of no arrests for those involved.
“[The family members] are mourning and missing Ahmaud Arbery and his contribution to their family. They feel much better today than when they did a month ago, when there were no arrests and the DOJ was not investigating,” Merritt said.
