Ahmaud Arbery ex-prosecutor indicted for ‘trying to SHIELD’ black Georgia jogger’s killers including her former employee
A FORMER Georgia prosecutor was indicted Thursday for her handling of Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting.
Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson was indicted on charges of violating her oath of office and hindering a law enforcement officer.
The indictment alleges Johnson used her position to shield the men who chased and killed Arbery from being charged with crimes immediately after the shootings.
Arbery was killed in February 2020, after a white father and son, Greg and Travis McMichael, armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old black man.
A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range with a shotgun.
Thursday’s indictment was the result of an investigation Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr requested last year.
INVESTIGATION ORDERED
The investigation looked into local prosecutors’ handling of Arbery’s slaying after the cellphone video of the shooting and a delay in charges sparked a national outcry.
Carr, a Republican, said in a statement Thursday: “While an indictment was returned today, our file is not closed, and we will continue to investigate in order to pursue justice.”
Following the shooting of Arbery, police did not charge the McMichaels and Bryan, who remained free for more than two months until the cellphone video was leaked online.
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The indictment claims Johnson showed “favor and affection” toward Greg McMichael in the investigation and interfered with police officers at the scene by “directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest.”
Johnson previously claimed she did nothing wrong, saying she immediately recused herself from the case because Greg McMichael was a former employee.
Governor Brian Kemp asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to take over the case, and McMichaels and Bryan were charged with murder and other crimes in May 2020 and face trial this fall.
MURDER CHARGES
Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery’s mother, said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors “must be held accountable when they interfere with investigations in order to protect friends and law enforcement.”
Prosecutors say Arbery was merely jogging in their neighborhood and was unarmed when Travis McMichael shot him.
They say there is no evidence Arbery had committed a crime.
Johnson blamed the controversy over Arbery’s death for her election defeat last year after a decade as top prosecutor for the five-county circuit in southeast Georgia.
She was defeated by independent candidate Keith Higgins, who had to collect thousands of signatures to get on the ballot.
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