President Trump on Friday said the video footage of Ahmaud Arbery being shot in Georgia was “very disturbing,” calling the 25-year-old black man’s death “heartbreaking” and “very rough.”
The president said on “Fox & Friends” that he watched the tape of the incident a night earlier. He did not appear to be aware that the father and son accused in Arbery’s case, both white, had been arrested on Thursday night.
“I looked at a picture of that young man,” Trump said of Arbery. “That looks like a really good young guy, and it’s a very disturbing situation to me. And I just, my heart goes out to the parents and the family and the friends.”
“It’s a heartbreaking thing. Very rough stuff,” Trump added.
Fox host Brian Kilmeade asked Trump what he could do to ensure “justice is done and this doesn’t end up in a racial situation.”
“Justice getting done is the thing that solves that problem,” Trump said, saying he trusted Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and state law enforcement to handle the situation properly.
Arbery was killed Feb. 23 just outside the port city of Brunswick, Ga. Two men allegedly chased him in a pickup. They claimed that they thought he was burglar responsible for a series of break-ins in the area.
Footage shared by Lee Merritt, an attorney representing Arbery’s family, appears to show Arbery running toward the truck and struggling with one of the men shortly before his death. The video quickly went viral and prompted national outrage about Arbery’s case. LeBron James, Joe Biden and others have weighed in to call for action.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations announced late Thursday that Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, had been arrested and would be booked into the Glynn County Jail on charges of murder and aggravated assault.