Push For Change Continues A Year After Ahmaud Arbery's Killing

BRUNSWICK, GA — For two months after Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed while he was out jogging last February, those connected with his death remained free after the prosecutor first assigned to handle the case saw no reason to bring charges.

The man who was later charged in the shooting was interviewed by police along with two other men and allowed to go free. It wasn’t until May 5, when cell phone video footage of the shooting was leaked online, that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case and eventually charged Travis McMichael as the shooter along with his father, Greg McMichael, and another man, Roddie Bryan.

The three men were indicted by a jury last July on nine charges, including malice murder.

Now, on the one-year anniversary Arbery’s death, his family and other community members in Brunswick are planning a memorial procession through the Satilla Shores subdivision where Arbery was gunned down while he ran. Organizers of the event are asking those outside of Brunswick to run 2.23 miles on Tuesday to commemorate the date of the avid runner’s death while participating in the activity Arbery loved so much.

“It is important to remind people of the origins, when it all started,” Jason Vaughn, Arbery’s high school football coach and an organizer of Tuesday's memorial events, told the Associated Press. “For a long time, it was like we were yelling into the dark, and nobody was listening.”

The virtual run scheduled for Tuesday night serves as a reminder for other Black running enthusiasts who now run to honor Arbery. That includes Akeem Baker, who had known Arbery since the two were young boys and who remembers his friend on the occasions when he chooses to jog around his neighborhood.

Baker told NBC News that he once only ran for health reasons, but that all changed when Arbery’s sister called him last Feb. 23 to tell him that her brother had been shot and killed while he was out jogging.

“Now I run for a sense of therapy, as if I am chasing some sort of freedom,” Baker told NBC News.

He added: “Ever since February 23, 2020, I think of my friend and pray that his life was not in vain."

Arbery’s death came months before that of George Floyd, whose death while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers sparked national outrage along with protests and rioting in cities across the United States.

But back in Brunswick, the Rev. John Perry, who was the president of the local chapter of the NAACP at the time of Arbery’s death, said the shooting death of the Black jogger served as a reminder that those in power need to be held accountable. Perry is now running for mayor in Brunswick, according to the AP, and plans to continue to push for everyday people to become more involved in their communities.

“Previously, we elected people into office and just trusted that they would do the right thing,” Perry told the AP. “The failure to carry out justice in the Ahmaud situation said we needed to do more as citizens.”

A year later, Vaughn — who founded the 2:23 Foundation in Arbery’s honor along with Arbery’s cousin, Demetris Frazier — said more needs to be done. The foundation has worked to enact change in the area, including efforts to get 18-year-old high school students in the region registered to vote, the AP reported. According to the foundation’s website, organizers are hoping to raise $223,000 for scholarships through Tuesday's virtual run as Vaughn and others continue to push for change not only in Brunswick but across the country.

The foundation and local activists are seeking to create a citizen review panel for the Glynn County Police Department, which handled the initial reports of the Arbery shooting. As change continues, Vaughn said he hopes efforts like his and others around the country are keeping Arbery’s memory alive a year after his death.

“You want to make sure you keep Ahmaud’s name alive, but it’s like reading an obituary over and over again,” Vaughn told the AP. “It’s like reliving the past all over again. You’ve got to stay strong.”