Friday was a day of protest and solidarity for many disturbed by the February killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County.
On what would have been his 26th birthday, people across the country joined virtually for 2.23 mile-long runs, walks and jogs to mark Feb. 23, the day Arbery was shot and killed.
The posts poured in all day long. Sweaty people, some wearing homemade signs and shirts posted messages of solidarity and support for Arbery’s family, wishing him a posthumous happy birthday.
Arbery was killed in February while jogging through a mostly white neighborhood in Brunswick near his own home.
The white father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, who chased him down weren’t arrested for months until a video of the killing leaked on Tuesday. That’s when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to take over the case, and authorities arrested the McMichaels two days later.
Running was a big part of Arbery’s life, according to his former high school football coach, Jason Vaughn.
“Running was what Maud did all the time,” he said. “I mean unless it was pouring down rain, Maud was going to find somewhere to exercise. He was going to find somewhere to run.”
He said that’s why the idea of #IRunWithMaud made sense.
“With social distancing, we had to do something that would keep people safe. But get the message across about the tragedy that happened to this family that we love, a family in our community,” he said.
The pandemic has been one of the most difficult parts of trying to organize, Vaughn said.
Arbery’s case has been compared to that of Trayvon Martin, who was killed in Florida eight years ago. At that time, tens thousands of people rallied in outrage, something that just hasn’t been possible for Arbery, despite a smaller, masked rally in Brunswick on Friday.
But protest isn’t the only way to hold authorities accountable, said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson in a Zoom press conference Friday.
“The actual protest in a traditional manner is only a tool or a vehicle to ensure we as a nation can have an accountable government that is transparent, that meets the needs and interests of all of his citizens.”
Voting, he said, for example, is crucial.
The next steps for the #IRunWithMaud movement are still being worked out, but they won’t stop until there’s a guilty verdict, said Akeem Baker, one of Arbery’s friends.
“This was a tragedy, and this was a heinous crime,” he said. “And we will not stop running for Ahmaud. We will continue to run from here on after.”
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds said Friday morning his agency is continuing to investigate the case, and more arrests are possible.
For a deeper exploration of Ahmaud Arbery’s story, listen to WABE’s podcast, “Buried Truths.” Hosted by journalist, professor, and Pulitzer-prize-winning author Hank Klibanoff, season three of “Buried Truths” explores the Arbery murder and its direct ties to racially motivated murders of the past in Georgia.
