Cook County Bar Association is Outraged by the Killing of Ahmaud Arbery and the Delay in Bringing his Killers to Justice
On February 23, 2020, a 25-year-old black man named Ahmaud Arbery went jogging in Brunswick, Georgia. A white former police officer, his son, and at least one other person saw Arbery running that day. Claiming that they thought he was a suspect in a string of burglaries in the area, the perpetrators armed themselves and followed Arbery in their truck. Upon reaching Arbery, one of them exited the truck with a shotgun. A struggle ensued, and Arbery was shot and killed. Nonetheless, local prosecutors initially declined to charge the perpetrators with any crime at all.
Several weeks later, someone released a video of Arbery's killing. A public outcry followed, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation stepped in. On May 7, 2020, more than two months after Arbery's death, the perpetrators were arrested and charged with his murder and aggravated assault.
Cook County Bar Association ("CCBA") finds the delay in bringing these suspects to justice disgraceful. The fact that Arbery's killers were let go-and may have faced no punishment absent the national outcry-is a disturbing reminder of the persistent inequities in our criminal justice system. CCBA understands that the U.S. Department of Justice is currently assessing whether to charge the assailants with federal hate crimes. Such charges, among other measures, would certainly be appropriate to ensure that the Arbery family receives justice and to dissuade others from engaging in similar attacks on unarmed black men under the guise of self-defense or citizens' arrest.
Law enforcement and the legal system cannot move the goalposts for some communities at the expense of others. Indeed, failing to administer justice equally undercuts the core tenets of our legal system. For society to thrive, fundamental fairness must be within the reach of each of its members.
