Ahmaud Arbery’s mother: If not for national attention, my son’s death would’ve been a cover up

Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, said that her son’s death would have been a cover up if his story did not gain traction in the mainstream media.

In a PBS interview on Friday, Cooper Jones said she initially did not have confidence in the state of Georgia’s law enforcement to handle the case surrounding the death of her son.

Without national attention, my son’s death would have been a coverup, Ahmaud Arbery’s mother tells @yamiche pic.twitter.com/mxBSLKs6CI

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) May 8, 2020

“Initially, I didn’t because if they were going to take care of it, then they would have taken care of it before it went worldwide,” Jones said.

“I honestly think that if we didn’t get national attention to it, my son’s death would have actually been a cover-up,” she added.

Feb. 23 of this year, Arbery was fatally shot while jogging in a neighborhood in Brunswick, Ga.

The alleged gunmen, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, reportedly followed Arbery in their vehicle and shot him, claiming they thought he was a burglar. 

Arbery’s death gained national attention after footage surfaced showing Arbery running away from two vehicles and struggling with a man over a gun before being shot. 

It took law enforcement 74 days to arrest the two on assault and murder charges, which has sparked outrage from local Georgia officials and many more public figures and celebrities this week.

Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr said that he would “be looking into how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,” according to a previous report.