Nearly an hour after his son shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, Greg McMichael reached out for help to his former boss, Jackie Johnson, the district attorney of Glynn County, Georgia.

“My son and I have been involved in a shooting, and I need some advice right away,” McMichael said, leaving a voicemail on Johnson’s phone.

The killing of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, led to national outrage after a video showing the tragic event surfaced online. McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan—three white men—used trucks and guns in a violent chase before the shooting. They are now serving life sentences for murder and federal hate crimes. However, it wasn’t until more than two months after the incident that they were arrested.

Now, nearly five years later, Johnson, who was serving as the local prosecutor at the time, is facing charges of misconduct. She’s accused of using her office to interfere with the investigation into Arbery’s death. Jury selection for her trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Brunswick, Georgia.

Key Details About the Case:

How Was Ahmaud Arbery Killed?

Arbery, an avid runner, was often seen jogging through the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Glynn County. On February 23, 2020, as Arbery ran past the McMichaels’ property, the father and son grabbed guns and gave chase in their pickup trucks. Bryan, in a separate truck, filmed the incident.

The footage showed Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at point-blank range as they struggled over his shotgun. Arbery was unarmed and had no stolen property on him. Despite this, local police initially let the men go, with Greg McMichael claiming they suspected Arbery was a thief.

Two months later, Bryan’s video was leaked, igniting outrage. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case, and arrests quickly followed for the McMichaels and Bryan.

Who Is Jackie Johnson and Why Was She Charged?

At the time of Arbery’s death, Jackie Johnson had served as the district attorney for southeast Georgia’s Brunswick Judicial Circuit for ten years. Greg McMichael had worked in her office before retiring.

After the shooting, Johnson claimed she recused herself from the case due to her connection with Greg McMichael. Another prosecutor, George Barnhill, was appointed to take over. However, Barnhill quickly ruled that the McMichaels acted lawfully in attempting to detain Arbery, and that the shooting was justified.

In May 2020, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr launched an investigation into Johnson and Barnhill. Carr revealed that Barnhill had been recommended by Johnson and failed to disclose that he had advised police the shooting wasn’t a crime.

In November 2020, Johnson was ousted from office. By 2021, she was indicted on charges of violating her oath of office and hindering the investigation.

What Are the Charges Against Jackie Johnson?

Johnson faces felony charges for using her office to show “favor and affection” to Greg McMichael. She is also charged with a misdemeanor for hindering police by advising that Travis McMichael should not be arrested.

Johnson has denied any wrongdoing, claiming she didn’t direct police not to arrest anyone. Her defense attorney, Brian Steel, stated in a pretrial hearing that Johnson was focused on an unrelated case and wasn’t aware of the details of the Arbery case.

Court records reveal that Johnson and Greg McMichael had at least 16 phone calls in the weeks after the shooting.

Jury Selection Process

Jury selection for Johnson’s trial is set to begin Tuesday in Glynn County. To ensure an impartial jury, 500 local residents were summoned—far more than usual. Prospective jurors will be questioned about their prior knowledge of the case, with the selection process expected to take a week or more.

Why Did It Take So Long for Johnson’s Trial to Begin?

The delay in Johnson’s trial, which took over three years, was largely due to her defense attorney’s commitments. Brian Steel spent nearly two years defending rapper Young Thug in a high-profile racketeering case, causing a delay in Johnson’s court proceedings. After Young Thug entered a plea deal in late October 2023, Johnson’s trial was scheduled for January 2025.

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A deaf man with cerebral palsy, who was violently arrested by Phoenix police officers in August, claims he tried to communicate his disability before being punched and tasered. Tyron McAlpin, a Black man, said he made several attempts to alert the officers that he was deaf, but was met with force and confusion during the encounter.

The incident began when officers responded to a call about a man causing trouble at a Circle K convenience store. Initially, the suspect was described as a white male, but later a different man, who was Black, was falsely identified by another suspect. McAlpin was the one pointed out, despite store employees and surveillance footage disputing the claim.

McAlpin, in a statement through an interpreter, explained that he had tried to signal to the officers that he couldn’t hear by pointing to his ears. However, his attempts were ignored as the officers physically restrained him. He later recounted feeling the emotional and physical toll of the encounter when speaking with a medical worker, mentioning difficulty seeing from his left eye and pain in his neck and chest.

Body camera footage released after the arrest revealed that the officers involved had a clear description of the original suspect, a white male, yet McAlpin was detained. Employees at the store explained to officers that McAlpin was a regular customer who had tried to help them when the disturbance occurred, not the aggressor.

After the incident, one of the officers involved, Ben Harris, claimed in court that he injured his hand while trying to regain control of McAlpin’s arm. The officers have been placed on paid administrative leave while an internal investigation is underway.

McAlpin was initially charged with felony assault and resisting arrest, but on October 17, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell dropped all charges after a review of the case. Mitchell stated that she personally examined video footage, police reports, and other materials, and convened a gathering of senior attorneys and community members to discuss the case.

The released body camera footage shows McAlpin being ordered to the ground by the officers, with no immediate compliance from him. The officers then proceeded to punch him multiple times and use a taser on him while demanding he put his hands behind his back. McAlpin’s attorney, Jesse Showalter, argued that McAlpin, being deaf, could not hear the commands and did not understand what was happening. He hoped the dropped charges would prompt further action based on the disturbing video evidence.

In response to the video, Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan assured the public that an internal investigation was underway, and that the findings would be thoroughly reviewed by multiple oversight bodies. He emphasized the need for patience as the process unfolded.

At the time of the investigation, no charges had been made against the white man who falsely accused McAlpin.

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