This strong message from Trump administration should further boost its image as a supporter of MLK cause/civil rights movement and credibility of its minorities outreach campaign that has included strong actions like prison reform, embrace of Black Lives Matter/social justice activists, pardon of Jack Johnson over Anti White Slave Act violation, threat to Sweden for release of rapper Rocky ASAP among other.
Update 1:
Ahmaud Arbery killing being investigated as federal hate crime, family attorney says
Updated: 7:43 PM PDT May 25, 2020
By Angela Barajas and Martin Savidge
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — S. Lee Merritt, an attorney for the family of Ahmaud Arbery, told CNN on Monday that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the shooting death as a hate crime.
Merritt said he learned about the development after meeting with United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia Bobby Christine on Thursday.
Arbery, who was black, was jogging outside Brunswick, Georgia, on Feb. 23 when Gregory McMichael and his son, who are white, chased after him, authorities said. Arbery and Travis McMichael struggled over the latter's shotgun and Arbery was shot three times. Gregory McMichael told police Arbery attacked his son, a police report says.
The killing sparked outrage across a nation after a disturbing video of the shooting emerged online on May 5.
Arbery's family said he was jogging through the neighborhood. Video shows him stopping by a house under construction, a home near the McMichaels. According to a Glynn County Police report, Gregory McMichael later told officers that he thought Arbery looked like a person whom they suspected in a series of recent break-ins in the area.
Earlier this month, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr requested the Department of Justice investigate the handling of this case.
A Department of Justice spokesperson confirmed earlier this month that the Civil Rights Division of the department was assessing the evidence in the case to determine whether federal hate crime charges were appropriate.
Gregory and Travis McMichael were arrested May 7 for the shooting death of Arbery. They face state charges of felony murder and aggravated assault.
William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., the man who recorded the fatal shooting of Arbery, was arrested last week on charges including felony murder.
US Attorney considering charges against state officials in Arbery case, family's lawyers say
Justice Department officials want to know why it took so long to charge those responsible for Ahmaud Arbery's death, the family's attorneys said.
Michael King
6:53 PM EDT May 25, 2020
May 11, 2020
Justice Department weighs hate crime charges in death of Ahmaud Arbery
Sarah N. Lynch
2 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is weighing whether to file hate crime charges against the white men who killed Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was gunned down while jogging in the small coastal town of Brunswick, Georgia, department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said on Monday.
“The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia have been supporting and will continue fully to support and participate in the state investigation. We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Kupec said in a statement.
The Justice Department announcement comes just days after state investigators arrested a white former police officer, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, on charges of murder and aggravated assault.
The Feb. 23, shooting death of 25-year-old Arbery was captured on a video that has since gone viral on social media. The shooting and video sparked outrage across the country, with civil rights activists saying it marks yet another example of white perpetrators attacking an innocent black man.
Critics have questioned why it took local law enforcement more than two months to arrest the suspects, prompting Georgia’s state attorney general to vow to investigate the delay.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-s...-idUSKBN22N29X
Related
Trump on shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
“So I saw the tape, and it’s very, very disturbing, the tape. I got to see it. It’s very disturbing. I looked at a picture of that young man. He was in a tuxedo, and — in fact, he put it up. And I will say that that looks like a really good, young guy,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.”
Ivanka Trump demands to know why it 'took months' to arrest two men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery
May 08, 2020
washingtonexaminer.com/news/ivanka-trump-demands-to-know-why-it-took-months-to-arrest-two-men-accused-of-murdering-ahmaud-arbery
Rev. Al Sharpton enters #JusticeForRocky fray, pleads for A$AP Rocky detained in Sweden
Civil rights activist and media personality Rev. Al Sharpton is joining the fray in support of the Harlem-born lyricist.
On Wednesday, Sharpton met with Renee Black, A$AP Rocky’s mother, and other relatives of the men arrested in Stockholm on June 30, at his National Action Network corporate offices in New York.
Trump administration had threatened Sweden to secure release of Somali-American rapper ASAP Rocky
U.S. warned Sweden of 'negative consequences' if ASAP Rocky wasn't released
Aug. 3, 2019
The U.S. government warned Sweden of "negative consequences" as it advocated for rapper ASAP Rocky during his trial for assault charges in Stockholm this week, according to a pair of letters released by the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
According to the letters, obtained by NBC News partner Aftonbladet, the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs wrote to Swedish prosecutors urging them to release Rocky.
"The government of the United States of America wants to resolve this case as soon as possible to avoid potentially negative consequences to the U.S.-Swedish bilateral relationship," Amb. Robert O'Brien wrote in the letter, dated Wednesday.
In response Sweden's prosecutor-general, Petra Lundh, defended the independence of Swedish courts and said he therefore had to deny O'Brien's requests.
"No other prosecutor, not even I, may interfere with a specific case or try to affect the prosecutor responsible," Lundh wrote in a letter dated Thursday.
The letters marked the latest intervention by U.S. officials in a case that has commanded the attention of figures ranging from the president to Justin Bieber.
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested and charged with assault over a street brawl in the Swedish capital on June 30.
Trump began weighing in on the case last month following outcry from celebrities including reality TV star Kim Kardashian-West and musician Rod Stewart.
Trump said he spoke to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven asking for his release and "offered to personally vouch for his bail."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u...-wasn-n1038961
Trump Deputy AG Rosenstein on recent mass shootings: “white terrorism” is more precise
Trump appointed FBI Director Wray says most domestic terrorism arrests this year involve white supremacy
07/23/19
Trump designates Martin Luther King Jr. birthplace a national historic park
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