GA Prosecutor Jailed For Mishandling Ahmaud Arbery Case
A former prosecutor was charged with misconduct in the Ahmaud Arbery case and booked into a Georgia jail on the same day three men were convicted of the young Black man’s murder.
Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson turned herself in Wednesday morning. Records from the Glynn County jail show she was released on her own recognizance, meaning she did not have to pay a cash bond.
A grand jury indicted Johnson last week on a felony charge of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor count of obstructing police. Johnson was the area’s top prosecutor when three white men chased and fatally shot Arbery last year. The indictment alleges she used her position to discourage police from making arrests in the 25-year-old Black man’s killing. Johnson lost reelection last year and blamed controversy over Arbery’s death for her defeat.
This is D.A. Jackie Johnson she's the dirtbag that blocked the arrest of the lynch mob and then recused herself, referred the case to another crook who didn't recommend charges. Fire them all!#AhmaudArbrey pic.twitter.com/oDvdlteWU9
— Jer T J (@JerManLastOf8) May 8, 2020
The Associated Press reports that Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office is prosecuting Johnson. Carr sought the misconduct investigation last year, saying the first outside prosecutor he appointed to handle the case had been recommended by Johnson, who never disclosed that she had already asked that prosecutor to advise police in the immediate aftermath of Arbery’s killing. That outside prosecutor, Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill, later recused himself after sending a letter to Glynn police advising that he believed the shooting of Arbery was justified.
Former Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson has been arrested and booked for violation of oath and obstruction in the Ahmaud Arbery murder case. pic.twitter.com/2DNIX7vPKn
— Chief Resistance Officer (@crushthebigots) November 24, 2021
Prosecutors said Arbery was unarmed and was carrying no stolen items when he was slain by Greg McMichael and his grown son, Travis McMichael, who armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck on Feb. 23, 2020, after they spotted Arbery running in their neighborhood just outside Brunswick, Georgia, which is about 70 miles south of Savannah. A friend and neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range with a shotgun. Greg McMichael told police they suspected Arbery was a burglar and Travis McMichael shot him in self-defense.
Jackie Johnson,District Attorney of Glynn County of Georgia & her team, & other legal system are working days & nights to find something bad about Ahmaud Arbery.
But case is so hot & it is very late to bring old-style show time.
The World knows Glynn County Legal System now. pic.twitter.com/iaKVRbzMzc
— Olis Bahari (@olisbahari) November 22, 2021
Greg McMichael worked for Jackie Johnson as an investigator in the district attorney’s office before retiring in 2019. Phone records introduced in court show he called Johnson and left her a voicemail soon after the shooting. Johnson has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying she recused her office from the case immediately because of its relationship with Greg McMichael.
A reminder that former Brunswick DA Jackie Johnson is now under criminal indictment for obstruction of justice for trying to cover up the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. If she succeeded, the trial would’ve never happened and three white supremacists would be free. Convict her ass too.
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) November 25, 2021