Families of former black Iowa football players are organizing and want answers to questions about what they say were racial injustices they experienced while with the program. Marc Morehouse of the Cedar Rapids Gazette first reported on the group Thursday.

Robert T. Green, CEO of the Virginia based sports management advisory group Pre-Postgame, spoke with the Gazette. On Sunday, he released a Facebook video with more details about the group’s complaints, particularly against head coach Kirk Ferenz, his son, Brian Ferentz, the offensive coordinator, and strength coach Chris Doyle.

Green announced that the families of former Hawkeyes Akrum Wadley, Reggie Spearman, Maurice Fleming, Malik Rucker and Marcel Joly were in the group. Green said on the video that the group was reaching out to other ex-Iowa players. He said some of the athletes haven’t spoken out for fear of public backlash.

“There are more people and more stories and more situations that will come out,” Green said in the video.

Green ran down a list of allegations against the program from these players. One of the charges came from former linebacker Reggie Spearman, who suffered a knee injury during his true sophomore season of 2014. Spearman ended up transferring, first to Illinois State and then Grand Valley State.

Spearman could be heard telling the story on Green’s video from Sunday.

“Halfway into the (’14) season, I suffered a really bad knee injury to the point where at practice I couldn’t even stand on my own two feet. I was fighting through it. I wanted to be there for my teammates. Later that season, we had a bye week and there is where things changed. The coaches had loved me. I was on the leadership committee. Everything was going great,” Spearman said.

In October of ’14, Spearman was suspended for one game after being charged with OWI. That happened during the bye week.

Spearman said he was pulled over by police while driving his moped. He said told the officers he was not drunk. He was handcuffed.

“At this point, I’m terrified. I wasn’t even intoxicated,” he said.

Police took him to the station. Spearman chose to have his urine tested instead of a breathalyzer. He said that’s when he found out the urine test would not come back until three or fours months later.

Spearman recalled being brought into Kirk Ferentz’s office the following morning.

“They stripped me of all of my accomplishments and roles on the team,” said Spearman, who had been on the player leadership committee. “They treated me like shit after that. On game days, they had me in the basement folding shirts.”

Green said Spearman was required to fold 700 shirts on game days and was told he couldn’t leave until they were done.

“It was very clear after that that the head coach did not want me on the team,” Spearman said. “I kept telling him I was falsely accused and that when the test comes back everything is going to be OK. The charge would be dropped, which it has. I have that on file. Come to find out two months later, I was way under the limit. I should have never been in custody at all.”

After the season, Spearman said that he came back for weight training when he was called into Kirk Ferentz’s office.

“He rips me. He calls me a liar. He called me names that I never thought a guy I committed to for four years would ever call me. It was disgusting. Made me cry. I had to call my parents I was so emotionally distraught. My dad came down just to talk to me I was so sad,” Spearman said.

On the list of players in this group asking for answers from Iowa football, Fleming, Wadley and Joly graduated from the university. Fleming played his final season at West Virginia as a grad transfer.

These allegations come in the wake of more than 50 former Hawkeyes alleging racial bias and mistreatment within the program. Kirk Ferentz held a press conference Friday.

HN reached out to Iowa sports information director Steve Roe, who provided this statement from the university:

Coach Ferentz will not be commenting on individual, unverified accusations posted on social media out of respect for the independent review process and for those who have shared their stories with him personally. Coach Ferentz has spent the past week listening and talking with a number of current and former players who talked about their experiences and their desire to help shape the future of the Hawkeye football program.

It appears as though there are some individuals not related to the program who may be trying to exploit this difficult time and undermine our efforts to make real constructive changes.

Coach Ferentz believes that meaningful change takes time and a thorough examination is already underway. He remains committed to creating a more inclusive culture for all of his players now and in the years to come.

NORFOLK, Va. — Federal authorities say they’ve arrested a North Carolina man who threatened to burn down a black church in Virginia.

John Malcolm Bareswill, 63, was arrested Friday on a charged related to his alleged threat to burn down a Baptist church in Virginia Beach, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said.

Court records said Bareswill, who lives in Catawba, North Carolina, called the church earlier this week and made racist remarks and threatened to set the church on fire after one of the church leaders took part in a public vigil for George Floyd.

Floyd died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck for more than eight minutes even after he pleaded for air and stopped moving.

Court records did not immediately identify an attorney for Bareswill.

The Associated Press

TWENTY-THREE people have been arrested during a Black Lives Matter protest at the US Embassy in London as fury mounts over the death of George Floyd.

The Met Police confirmed the people were arrested during the protest on suspicion of a number of offences – including assaults on officers.

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It came as hundreds of activists gathered in the capital holding placards reading “racism has no place” and “no justice, no peace”.

Mr Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck in a now infamous video.

Protests have occurred in a number of US cities as activists clashed with police – with the demos now spreading to the UK.

In a statement, the Met Police said: “The arrests vary in offences from possession of an offensive weapon to assault on police, obstructing a public carriageway to breaches of Covid legislation.”

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It added those arrested were between the ages of 17 and 25.

Pictures show protesters being led away by cops today, while videos show scuffles between police and demonstrators.

In one clip, a group of police can be seen shouting “get back” while shoving a number of protesters before a traffic cone is hurled.

However, the protests were largely peaceful as many wore face masks as they stood in solidarity with Black Lives Matter marches taking place across the world.

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Placards waved by the demonstrators echoed the final words of Mr Floyd as he gasped “I can’t breathe”.

Anger is growing as demonstrations were also seen today in countries such as France, Germany and Denmark – as well as continuing in the US.

Mr Floyd’s death has renewed the focus on allegations of racism and police brutality in the US and across the globe.

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Meanwhile, footage showed protesters taking a knee for the 46-year-old in a move made famous by American football player Colin Kaepernick.Kaepernick famously knelt for Terence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott following their 2016 deaths at the hands of US police officers.

Other raised their fists in the air as they yelled “no justice, no peace” as they took a stand for Mr Floyd.

The protest started in Trafalgar Square before making its way across Westminster to the US Embassy in London.

Aerial shots showed hundreds of activists marching to the building flanked by police cars along the side of the road.

Other protests also took place across the UK – including in Manchester and Cardiff.

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Reverend Sally Hitchiner, associate vicar at St Martin-in-the-Fields church on Trafalgar Square, said she could see hundreds gathered for the protest from her workplace.She said: “I’m very sympathetic to the issue but also surprised to see the strength of emotion that has gathered people together.

“It’s showing there are people in the UK who care passionately about the situation in the US.

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“Clearly they’re not following lockdown and social distancing, but I think there’s a huge amount of passion there and that’s overriding their concerns.

“It’s an issue that requires passion but at the same time there’s a huge amount of risk in what they’re doing.”

She said police appeared to be moving the crowd on from the square by early afternoon.

Tens of thousands of people have joined nightly protests across the US since the death, with at least 1,600 people arrested in 22 cities as some demonstrations descended into violence.

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Police officer Derek Chauvin has been sacked and charged with third-degree murder following Mr Floyd’s death.

Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said video footage of Mr Floyd’s death was “very distressing”.

He declined to comment on US President Donald Trump’s response to the widespread protests.

Trump has been criticised after warning on Twitter that “looting leads to shooting”.

He later attempted to clarify his words by further tweeting on Friday: “Looting leads to shooting, and that’s why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night – or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot.

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“I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means.”

Mr Raab told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I’m not going to start commenting on the commentary or indeed the press statements that other world leaders make, or indeed the US president.

“What we do know is that the lead suspect has now been charged with murder, there is a federal review and we want to see de-escalation of all of those tensions and American come together.”

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Video of Mr Floyd’s death has been viewed millions of times and has shocked the world.

In the clip, Mr Floyd is seen pinned to the ground by Chauvin, who has a knee across his neck.

Chauvin was detaining the 46-year-old on suspicion of forgery.

Mr Floyd is repeatedly heard saying he cannot not breathe, shouting “please, please” and “mama, mama”.

He then goes silent and appears to go limp as Chauvin continues to press his knee onto his neck.

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The dad-of-six – described as a “gentle giant” by his family – is then taken away by paramedics and was later pronounced dead.

Protests and outrage quickly took hold – which decided into widespread violence and destruction in Minneapolis, leading to the deployment of the National Guard and imposition of a curfew.

Four days later Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

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Mr Floyd’s family welcomed the arrest, but had hoped for a more serious charge.

They also wanted the other three officers involved – Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng – arrested as they failed to intervene.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said more charges were possible – and the investigation into the other three continues.

All four officers were fired from the force.

Chauvin allegedly disregarded the concerns of another officer, who wanted to roll Mr Floyd onto his side, according to the criminal complaint.

The papers also said that an autopsy revealed nothing to support strangulation as the cause of death – instead blaming underlying health conditions.

Mr Floyd’s family are now seeking an independent autopsy, saying that the health problems cited in the official report are “an illusion”.

Chauvin is reportedly “effectively on suicide watch”, while video today showed New York cops driving their cruisers into a crowd of protesters as violence continues.

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Anger erupts at protesters over the death of George Floyd

TWENTY-THREE people have been arrested during a Black Lives Matter protest at the US Embassy in London as fury mounts over the death of George Floyd.

The Met Police confirmed the people were arrested during the protest on suspicion of a number of offences – including assaults on officers.

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It came as hundreds of activists gathered in the capital holding placards reading “racism has no place” and “no justice, no peace”.

Mr Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck in a now infamous video.

Protests have occurred in a number of US cities as activists clashed with police – with the demos now spreading to the UK.

In a statement, the Met Police said: “The arrests vary in offences from possession of an offensive weapon to assault on police, obstructing a public carriageway to breaches of Covid legislation.”

It added those arrested were between the ages of 17 and 25.

Pictures show protesters being led away by cops today, while videos show scuffles between police and demonstrators.

In one clip, a group of police can be seen shouting “get back” while shoving a number of protesters before a traffic cone is hurled.

However, the protests were largely peaceful as many wore face masks as they stood in solidarity with Black Lives Matter marches taking place across the world.

Placards waved by the demonstrators echoed the final words of Mr Floyd as he gasped “I can’t breathe”.

Anger is growing as demonstrations were also seen today in countries such as France, Germany and Denmark – as well as continuing in the US.

Mr Floyd’s death has renewed the focus on allegations of racism and police brutality in the US and across the globe.

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Meanwhile, footage showed protesters taking a knee for the 46-year-old in a move made famous by American football player Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick famously knelt for Terence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott following their 2016 deaths at the hands of US police officers.

Other raised their fists in the air as they yelled “no justice, no peace” as they took a stand for Mr Floyd.

The protest started in Trafalgar Square before making its way across Westminster to the US Embassy in London.

Aerial shots showed hundreds of activists marching to the building flanked by police cars along the side of the road.

Other protests also took place across the UK – including in Manchester and Cardiff.

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Reverend Sally Hitchiner, associate vicar at St Martin-in-the-Fields church on Trafalgar Square, said she could see hundreds gathered for the protest from her workplace.

She said: “I’m very sympathetic to the issue but also surprised to see the strength of emotion that has gathered people together.

“It’s showing there are people in the UK who care passionately about the situation in the US.

“Clearly they’re not following lockdown and social distancing, but I think there’s a huge amount of passion there and that’s overriding their concerns.

“It’s an issue that requires passion but at the same time there’s a huge amount of risk in what they’re doing.”

She said police appeared to be moving the crowd on from the square by early afternoon.

Tens of thousands of people have joined nightly protests across the US since the death, with at least 1,600 people arrested in 22 cities as some demonstrations descended into violence.

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Police officer Derek Chauvin has been sacked and charged with third-degree murder following Mr Floyd’s death.

Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said video footage of Mr Floyd’s death was “very distressing”.

He declined to comment on US President Donald Trump’s response to the widespread protests.

Trump has been criticised after warning on Twitter that “looting leads to shooting”.

He later attempted to clarify his words by further tweeting on Friday: “Looting leads to shooting, and that’s why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night – or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot.

“I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means.”

Mr Raab told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I’m not going to start commenting on the commentary or indeed the press statements that other world leaders make, or indeed the US president.

“What we do know is that the lead suspect has now been charged with murder, there is a federal review and we want to see de-escalation of all of those tensions and American come together.”

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Video of Mr Floyd’s death has been viewed millions of times and has shocked the world.

In the clip, Mr Floyd is seen pinned to the ground by Chauvin, who has a knee across his neck.

Chauvin was detaining the 46-year-old on suspicion of forgery.

Mr Floyd is repeatedly heard saying he cannot not breathe, shouting “please, please” and “mama, mama”.

He then goes silent and appears to go limp as Chauvin continues to press his knee onto his neck.

The dad-of-six – described as a “gentle giant” by his family – is then taken away by paramedics and was later pronounced dead.

Protests and outrage quickly took hold – which decided into widespread violence and destruction in Minneapolis, leading to the deployment of the National Guard and imposition of a curfew.

Four days later Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

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Mr Floyd’s family welcomed the arrest, but had hoped for a more serious charge.

They also wanted the other three officers involved – Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng – arrested as they failed to intervene.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said more charges were possible – and the investigation into the other three continues.

All four officers were fired from the force.

Chauvin allegedly disregarded the concerns of another officer, who wanted to roll Mr Floyd onto his side, according to the criminal complaint.

The papers also said that an autopsy revealed nothing to support strangulation as the cause of death – instead blaming underlying health conditions.

Mr Floyd’s family are now seeking an independent autopsy, saying that the health problems cited in the official report are “an illusion”.

Chauvin is reportedly “effectively on suicide watch”, while video today showed New York cops driving their cruisers into a crowd of protesters as violence continues.

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Anger erupts at protesters over the death of George Floyd

 

This story has been updated. 

Decatur, GA – The eight-minute-long video shows two white young men walking up to the porch of a black resident in Decatur’s Oakhurst neighborhood and knocking on his door.

They were there on May 10, Mother’s Day, because the black man allegedly made comments on Facebook accusing the young white men of having “interactions with prostitutes,” as the police report put it. The young white men demanded that the black man come out and talk to them “like a man.” A security camera recorded the confrontation.

The video touched off a bitter debate in Decatur’s Oakhurst community about race and privilege. Why weren’t the young men arrested that day? And if they were black men instead of white, wouldn’t they have been arrested then and there?

Almost everyone who has seen the video has an opinion, though everyone agrees that the young men in the video shouldn’t have been on that porch knocking on the man’s door for eight minutes. And as with every controversial video, there’s a story behind it. It’s a story that some in the community see as a neighborhood confrontation that got out of hand, unmotivated by race. But other people, particularly people of color and their white allies, see it as a reminder that the white lives are valued above others.

The video serves as an inconvenient reminder of liberal Decatur’s years of concern about decreasing diversity within its city limits and accusations of racial profiling by its police department. Recently, another racial controversy erupted within City Schools of Decatur when videos emerged of high school students using racial slurs.

The video of the Oakhurst confrontation also reinforces broader angst about recent acts of racial violence, like the shooting of an unarmed black jogger by two white men in Brunswick, GA. For people of color, the confrontation seen in the Oakhurst video is another reminder that they have no assurances of personal safety in a world where white people can move with impunity and people of color can’t.

“Like a man”

Decaturish is referring to the man in the Oakhurst home as Elliott because he hasn’t been charged with any crime in connection to this confrontation and he fears for his safety.

In the video, one of the young men, a black-haired Decatur lacrosse player named Elliot Baca, 18, banged on the door. His friend, a blond-haired lacrosse player named Will Garstka, 17, looked on from the street. Decaturish is naming both men because arrest warrants have been issued for them in connection with the incident. A warrant was issued for Baca on the charge of simple assault and a warrant was issued for Garstka for the offense of party to Baca’s alleged crime, according to a Police Department spokesperson.

In Georgia, you are an adult for the purposes of criminal prosecution at the age of 17, according to Georgiacriminallawyer.com. The Georgia Recorder reports there’s an ongoing debate about whether that law should change.

In the video, Baca appeared to be the primary instigator of the incident. He opened Elliott’s storm door and begins knocking.

“Come outside for me,” he said. “Come on outside.”

The knocking continued as Baca peered inside.

“You came to the door with a gun?” Baca asked.

Elliott did have a gun, which was confirmed by his white neighbor, Matthew Baird who knows many of the details about the May 10 confrontation and what led up to it.

Baca appeared unconcerned that a gun has been introduced into the situation.

“That’s fine,” he said.

The knocking continued. Baca continued telling Elliott to come outside. He taunted him for being a “grown man scared in the house.” Baca argued his case both ways, raising his voice to Elliott about “posting on Facebook about minors.

“You don’t post on Facebook about minors,” Baca said.

Later in the video, he insisted Elliott come outside and talk to him “like a man.”

Elliott yelled something from inside his home that couldn’t be understood from viewing the video.

“That’s OK,” Baca replied. “What are you going to do about it, little buddy? What are you going to do about it?”

During the confrontation, Elliott told Baca he would call the police.

Baca appeared unconcerned that the police were coming.

He continued knocking.

“Elliott, oh Elliott,” Baca said. “Come out. We’ve got to talk to you, Elliott.”

Acknowledging the gun again, Baca asked, “Are you going to shoot me?”

Later in the confrontation, Elliott asked what Baca and Garstka will do if he leaves his home.

“We’re going to have a nice conversation,” Baca replied.

He continued knocking. Elliott informed Baca that he was being recorded.

“That’s fine,” Baca said. Elliott yelled something else from inside his home that was inaudible. Baca replied, “I’m not going to jail.”

Baca was right. When police arrived they didn’t arrest Baca and Garstka, and instead issued them a warning for criminal trespass.

“It is common practice for officers to issue criminal trespass warnings to persons on residential/business property when the property owner/representative wants someone to leave and not return,” police spokesperson Sgt. John Bender said on May 11. “In instances where there is no property damage and the issue is the unwanted presence of a person, the courts want a formal criminal trespass warning issued before an arrest if the person(s) returns to the property. The warning is good for a one year period.”

He said Monday that the case was still active and assigned to a criminal investigator.

Elliott posted about the case on the Oakhurst Facebook page on May 10, generating hundreds of comments on that post. Most were outraged by what occurred, while some took up for Baca and Garstka, saying Elliott had provoked young, impulsive men with false accusations made online. Elliott removed the post and the video, which he initially posted on YouTube, but forwarded a copy of the video to Decaturish.

The issue festered most of the week, with many people questioning why Elliott’s post had been removed and wondering if moderators had stifled an important discussion.

On May 13, Bender confirmed that the charges against Baca and Garstka had been upgraded.

“On Wednesday, May 13, 2020 warrants were issued by the DeKalb County Magistrate Court for 18-year-old Elliot Baca of Decatur for simple assault and 17-year-old William Garstka of Decatur for the offense of party to a crime (simple assault),” Bender said.

When asked for an explanation of the new charges, Bender said, “Based upon the facts of the case that were presented to the judge, warrants for those charges were signed. Currently, they have not been arrested by the Decatur Police Department. The warrants are held by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.”

Keeping tabs

Baird, Elliott’s neighbor, referred to the controversy as “good old Oakhurst craziness.”

Police reports show that youth activity behind Oakhurst Pediatrics on West Hill Street has been an ongoing concern that escalated after city schools closed due to COVID-19. The activity reportedly involved the lacrosse team, but Decaturish hasn’t uncovered any evidence that Baca and Garstka were involved in any of those activities.

“All this stuff started around the time of the great coronavirus lockdown of early March,” Baird said. “Kids were out of school and don’t have anything to do, and I guess they thought they’d hang out here behind the building where Oakhurst Pediatrics is.”

Baird, who is white, called the cops as did the pediatricians who worked in the office nearby.

Pediatrician Jessica Doyle said the students were creating problems for her business.

“Before school ended, on days they didn’t have school, there’d be a car, kids clearly smoking pot in the parking lot. … They appeared to be and smelled to be smoking pot,” she said. “They weren’t destroying property. We said next time you’re here, we’re going to call the police and we found some of their pipes and stuff like that and threw those away. When school finished it started to be a lot more often. That group of kids that appeared to be from the Decatur lacrosse team were in the parking lot more and were throwing the lacrosse ball against our side of the building.”

The students allegedly broke a window, which records show was reported to the police.

Doyle said her office called the police at least three times and the police did nothing to stop the activity.

Baird also kept tabs on the students hanging out behind the pediatrician’s office. One night he approached them, took a picture of their license plate and a picture of them. The students sped off. This occurred approximately three weeks ago, Baird said.

But eventually, three students — including Baca and Garstka — returned and confronted him.

“They were bowing up like high school athletes and there were three of them,” Baird recalled.

After Baird threatened to call the cops, the students ran back to their car and returned carrying lacrosse sticks. Baca and Garstka were in that group, Baird said.

“My neighbors think they were threatening us with the sticks,” Baird said. “I won’t go that far. It could be perceived as intimidating. The cops came, de-escalated the situation, didn’t take their names, didn’t contact their parents … I thought that was the end of it.”

The facts of that confrontation are disputed. Baca’s father wasn’t aware of the incident. Garstka’s attorney said that his client had a lacrosse stick, but wasn’t threatening Baird or anyone else.

“The neighbor, the actual person they were calmly speaking to, didn’t feel threatened because they weren’t bowing up,” the attorney said. “They were holding lacrosse sticks. They were playing lacrosse and had their sticks in their hands. The person with whom the kids were speaking didn’t feel threatened because they weren’t threatening anybody.”

A few days before the confrontation with Elliott, a strange woman visited Elliott’s porch at 1 a.m. He concluded that she was a sex worker and allegedly claimed on social media she was affiliated with the activity occurring behind the pediatrician’s office.

A couple of days later, Baca and Garstka arrived on Elliott’s porch and initiated the confrontation that has roiled Oakhurst for days.

A youthful mistake or the epitome of privilege?

Garstka retained counsel and his attorney, Max Hirsh, contacted Decaturish before the publication of this article. Everything is not as it appeared in the video, he said.

“The two boys in the video woke up to absurd libel and at the tender age of 17,” Hirsh said. “They made a life-changing decision of deciding to reason and approach the man. The video ensues.”

Hirsh said his client was more of a spectator than a participant.

“Of note though, the second of the two lacrosse players [Garstka] remains calm, staying on a public sidewalk throughout the entirety of the video, except for a few seconds to hand his teammate a phone,” Hirsh said. “Police officers are given specified training to help them curb their adrenaline rushes during intense situations. Yet with no training or adult life experience under his belt and with tempers flaring and adrenaline-pumping this young man shows calm beyond which his young age justifies.”

Hirsh notes that Elliott removed his posts on the Oakhurst Facebook page.

Baca’s father, Eric Baca, spoke to Decaturish at length about what happened, and said, “I’m trying to do what I can to deescalate things.”

“Obviously my son’s reputation is of concern,” Eric Baca said. “This was very bad judgment on his part.”

Baca said he understands why people would be concerned about two young white men confronting a black man inside his own home. He said, “the household was raised without racism.” His son had friends of all races while attending City Schools of Decatur.

“As the father, I can just tell you he was just pissed off there was some sort of posting about them hanging out,” Eric Baca said. “I can tell you with 110 percent certainty race had nothing to do with it. They were hanging out, doing dumb teenager things and they were pissed off an adult was watching them.”

He said he wanted people to know his family is taking this seriously.

“It’s a stressful time for everyone,” Eric Baca said. “We’re not disinterested. … We’re engaged and we wish to resolve this and the man [Elliott] has nothing to fear.”

Hirsh took a decidedly more litigious tone toward Elliott.

“Since the incident [Elliott] has removed his posts, likely advised by an attorney that his actions are tortious,” Hirsh said.

Robert Huey, a Decatur resident, said the claims that racism motivated the young men’s actions are inaccurate.

“First and foremost it is my opinion and the opinion of many people, that any racial motivators claimed by anybody is completely nonexistent,” Huey said. “The reason the kids are hanging out at that spot is it is close to one of their black friends. … They were riled up by someone they couldn’t see much less know the race of.”

Huey is quick to add that he’s not excusing what Baca and Garstka did.

“I’m not defending what the kids did at all. It was obviously a very ill-informed decision,” Huey said. “But I think lots of people were uneducated in what happened and wanted something to be true about racial relations, and wanted something to be upset about. It turned into this giant groupthink about how these kids are privileged and entitled, and anybody who knows those kids and knows those families, those are the last thing they are.”

People of color and their allies have a different interpretation of events.

Gwendolyn Cooper, who is black and lives in East Lake, said she was “very disturbed” by the video.

“They pulled up, you see them in their car, their nice car that pulled up, to walk onto this man’s porch,” Cooper said. “There was no hesitation. They got out as if you thought they lived there.”

But the real anger began when some members of the community stuck up for Baca and Garstka.

“There were people taking up for the behavior,” she said. “That’s what got us riled up. For people to make excuse for the kids, that’s what really pissed a lot of us off.”

To Cooper, the confrontation is entitlement illustrated.

“[The police] didn’t do anything because they’re privileged white kids,” Cooper said. “How do you get to go on someone’ s property and terrorize them and there’s video footage and there’s nothing done?”

Ginger Moff, a white woman who used to live in Decatur, said she moved out because her biracial grandson was bullied at Oakhurst Elementary because of his race. When she saw the video, it made her think that the kids who bullied her grandson were picking up that behavior from the people around them. But she conceded she couldn’t know for sure if race was what motivated the May 10 confrontation.

“I thought the video was very telling,” Moff said.

Mawuli Davis, noted local civil rights attorney and co-chair of Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, has worked for years to improve racial equity in the school system.

Davis sees the broader implications of what’s depicted in the video. People who dismiss race as a factor are ignoring America’s history of racial violence, he said.

“I think that it is naïve for us to talk about interactions between black people and white people and not consider the long history of race and the power dynamic that continues to exist,” Davis said. “The question is, would a group of black boys feel comfortable banging on the door of a grown adult white man and demanding that he come out, and would those black boys not be arrested immediately on-site?”

He said his sons wouldn’t do something like that. It would never cross their minds.

“They’d get blown away,” Davis said.

Davis said the community can move forward from this incident. But it’s going to require conversations that are difficult. It will take work.

“One of the great challenges is for white people in America and Decatur to address their whiteness and white privilege and that’s work. And people want to move forward without doing the work, and that’s the challenge,” Davis said.

Until people can honestly and openly confront the racial dynamics of what happened, moving forward from this incident will not be easy.

As for people who are concerned that the video will irreparably harm the young men depicted in it, Davis said they shouldn’t be concerned.

“At the end of the day, those young white men, they’ll end up faring better than the black boys that are honor roll students in America,” Davis said. “That’s the scary part of it. That video is not going to stop them. They’ll be fine. Hopefully, they’ll learn from it, if they think it through and if they have to engage in some restorative practices and really think about the message that is sent. The audacity for them to be able to feel they can do that, that reeks of white privilege.”

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SAVANNAH, Ga. – Georgia‘s attorney general appointed a black district attorney from the Atlanta area Monday to take over the case of a white father and son charged with killing a black man, making her the third outside prosecutor in a slaying that’s prompted a national outcry over suspicions that race played a role in delaying arrests.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was fatally shot Feb. 23 by the men who told police they chased him because they believed he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect caught on surveillance video. Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were arrested last week, more than two months later, after video of the shooting appeared online and provoked outrage. Federal prosecutors are also considering hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said; that would allow for a separate case in federal court.

Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes takes over the case from prosecutor Tom Durden, who the state’s attorney general said asked to be replaced by a prosecutor with a large staff as “this case has grown in size and magnitude.” Holmes is based in metro Atlanta, more than 300 miles (480 kilometres) from the coastal Georgia community in Glynn County where the shooting happened.

“District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,” state Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. “And the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.”

Holmes served four years a magistrate judge in suburban Cobb County before Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to fill the vacant district attorney’s position last July. According to the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council, Holmes is one of only seven black district attorneys in the state.

An attorney for Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, applauded the appointment of a new lead prosecutor.

“In order for justice to be carried out both effectively and appropriately in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it is imperative that the special prosecutor has no affiliation with the Southeast Georgia legal or law enforcement communities,” attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement. He asked that Holmes “be zealous in her search for justice.”

Arbery was hit by three shotgun blasts, according to an autopsy report released Monday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. One shot grazed his right wrist, and the other two struck him in the chest. Blood tests for various drugs and alcohol all came back negative.

Many have expressed frustration with the investigation, questioning whether the arrests took so long because the suspects are white and the victim black. The killing happened in a subdivision bordered by marsh just outside Brunswick, a working-class port city of about 16,000 that also serves as a gateway to beach resorts on neighbouring islands.

The McMichaels weren’t arrested until after the video became public and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to look into the killing. Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed since Thursday on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault.

With courts largely closed because of the coronavirus, getting an indictment needed to try the men on murder charges will take a while longer still. The soonest a grand jury can convene to hear the case will be mid-June.

It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from the case because the elder McMichael had worked under her. The first outside prosecutor appointed, District Attorney George Barnhill of the neighbouring Waycross Judicial Circuit, stepped aside about a month later because his son works for Johnson as an assistant prosecutor. Durden got the case in mid-April.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation to weigh whether hate crimes charges should be brought. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing state charges.

At the White House, President Donald Trump said Monday he’s following the case “very closely” and that Arbery “looks like a wonderful young guy.”

“Certainly the video, it was a terrible looking video to me,” Trump said. “But you have a lot of people looking at it and hopefully an answer’s going to be arrived at very quickly.”

Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement: “We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate.”

She said the department is also considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighbourhood before he was killed.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. A truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one white man standing in the pickup’s bed and another beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

A man who says he recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William R. Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He has not been charged.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia’s attorney general appointed a black district attorney Monday to take over the case of a white father and son charged with killing a black man, making her the third outside prosecutor in a slaying that’s prompted a national outcry over suspicions that race played a role in delaying arrests.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was fatally shot Feb. 23 by the men who told police they chased him because they believed he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect caught on surveillance video. Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were arrested last week, more than two months later, after video of the shooting appeared online and provoked outrage. Federal prosecutors are also considering hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said; that would allow for a separate case in federal court.

Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes takes over the case from prosecutor Tom Durden, who the state’s attorney general said asked to be replaced by a prosecutor with a large staff as “this case has grown in size and magnitude.” Holmes is based in metro Atlanta, more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) from the coastal Georgia community in Glynn County where the shooting happened.

“District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,” state Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. “And the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.”

Holmes served four years a magistrate judge in suburban Cobb County before Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to fill the vacant district attorney’s position last July. According to the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council, Holmes is one of only seven black district attorneys in the state.

An attorney for Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, applauded the appointment of a new lead prosecutor.

“In order for justice to be carried out both effectively and appropriately in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it is imperative that the special prosecutor has no affiliation with the Southeast Georgia legal or law enforcement communities,” attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement. He asked that Holmes “be zealous in her search for justice.”

The McMichaels weren’t arrested until after the video became public and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to look into the killing. It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed since Thursday on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from the case because the elder McMichael had worked under her. The first outside prosecutor appointed, District Attorney George Barnhill of the neighboring Waycross Judicial Circuit, stepped aside about a month later because his son works for Johnson as an assistant prosecutor. Durden got the case in mid-April.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation to weigh whether hate crimes charges should be brought. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing state charges.

“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.

According to Kupec’s statement, the department is also considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

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

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. A truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one white man standing in the pickup’s bed and another beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

A man who says he recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William R. Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He has not been charged.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors are weighing possible hate crime charges in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man gunned down after being pursued by two armed white men in a Georgia subdivision.

Arbery was fatally shot Feb. 23 by a father and son who told police they chased him because they believed he was a burglar. They were arrested last week, more than two months later, on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault after video of the shooting appeared online.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing charges at the state level.

“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.

Previously, a Justice Department spokesman had said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the department would assist if a federal crime is uncovered.

Kupec’s statement Monday also said the Justice Department was considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, are jailed on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s slaying. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

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 neighbourhood before he was killed.

Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as the person who recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William “Roddie” Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He appears to be mentioned in a single sentence of the report, which says Gregory McMichael told an officer that “’Roddy’ attempted to block (Arbery) which was unsuccessful.”

“I had nothing to do with it. I’m trying to get my life back to normal, and it’s been smeared for the last week,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

Bryan has not been charged in the case. The TV station reported Bryan would not discuss his involvement in the events that led to Arbery’s death.

Outside prosecutors were appointed to handle the case. But the McMichaels weren’t arrested until last week. After video of the shooting leaked online Tuesday, the lead prosecutor on the case asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting. The McMichaels were arrested Thursday.

It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. The truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one of the white men standing in the pickup’s bed and the other beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving just beyond the truck, briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.