SEE IT: Police tried to use Taser on Ahmaud Arbery during 2017 incident, video shows
Ahmaud Arbery(HANDOUT)
A 2017 incident saw a Georgia police officer try to use his Taser on Ahmaud Arbery, who had been hanging out in his parked car before authorities arrived and questioned him, newly released video shows.
Lawyers for Arbery’s family now say that incident offered “just a glimpse into the kind of scrutiny” their client faced years before he was killed this past February by two men who followed him while he was out jogging, according to The Guardian.
On Nov. 7, 2017, an officer with the Glynn County Police Department began to question Arbery after coming across his car, which the cop said was parked in a “known area for drugs and criminal activity," according to a police report obtained by The Guardian through an open records request.
The police report states Arbery became “impatient” as the officer, Michael Kanago, ran a check on his identification. Arbery told Kanago that he was just relaxing on his day off from work and was rapping in his car to instrumental beats.
The officer told him he was looking into potential criminal activity.
“Criminal activity? I’m in a f--king park,” Arbery replied. "I work.”
(WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE)
Kanago searched Arbery for weapons and determined he was not armed, as seen in body camera footage also published by The Guardian. When backup was called, a second officer, David Haney, attempted to deploy his Taser on Arbery, but it malfunctioned.
Arbery told police that they did not have permission to search his car.
Police allowed Arbery to leave the scene, but said he couldn’t drive because his license was expired. In the police report, Kanago says he smelled an odor that he “believed to be burned marijuana” through an opening in the car’s window, and observed a bag inside the car with “some sort of leafy substance” in it.
Attorneys for Arbery’s family told The Guardian that there was “no justifiable reason” for a Taser to be used.
“This appears to be just a glimpse into the kind of scrutiny Ahmaud Arbery faced not only by this police department, but ultimately regular citizens like the McMichaels and their posse, pretending to be police officers," the lawyers stated.
Arbery, 25, was shot and killed on Feb. 23 after being followed by two men — former police officer Gregory McMichael and his son Travis — while out for a jog near Brunswick, Ga.
Officials did not arrest the McMichaels until May 7. They have been charged with murder and aggravated assault.
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