Jay-Z's Roc Nation Demands Answers In Ahmaud Arbery Case

ATLANTA (AP) — The social justice arm of Jay-Z's Roc Nation entertainment company on Sunday called on Georgia officials to take quick action in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who authorities say was killed by two white men as he ran through a Georgia neighborhood.

 

 

 

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 25: Jay-Z attends the Pre-GRAMMY Gala and GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Sean "Diddy" Combs on January 25, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

 

 

 

Musicians Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Alicia Keys, Mario "Yo Gotti" Mims, Robert "Meek Mill" Williams and two attorneys signed Team Roc's open letter published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and directed at state officials.

The letter said District Attorney Tom Durden should be recused from the case due for a conflict of interest since Gregory McMichael, one of the two men charged with murder,  was a former police officer. The letter urges state Attorney General Christopher Carr to instead appoint a special prosecutor to help achieve a fair trial. It also says a neighbor should be charged as an armed accomplice.

"We are all Ahmaud Arbery," rapper Yo Gotti said in a statement. "Everyday activities should not end in death sentences. We must hold people responsible for their actions. Ahmaud Arbery was unarmed and innocent and his killers must be brought to justice."

Arbery was fatally shot on Feb. 23 in Brunswick but no charges were brought for more than two months. National outrage over the case swelled last week after video surfaced that appeared to show the shooting.

 

 

 

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white) Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z attend the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)

 

 

Shortly after the video's leak, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault.

The father and son said they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before.

Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

 

 

 

BRUNSWICK, GA - MAY 09: A man communicates with friends while people gather to honor Ahmaud Arbery at Sidney Lanier Park on May 9, 2020 in Brunswick, Georgia. Arbery was shot and killed while jogging in the nearby Satilla Shores neighborhood on February 23. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

 

 

"If anybody saw that horrifying video of his killing, it is heartbreaking, unbelievably unacceptable and inhumane," singer Alicia Keys said in a statement to The Associated Press. "No human being should be murdered and not receive justice. I have black sons and they should be able to go on a jog or anywhere they want without the risk of being killed."

 

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