Doug Collins: Ahmaud Arbery video ‘disturbing and wrong’

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) on Thursday said footage appearing to show 25-year-old black jogger Ahmaud Arbery being pursued and fatally shot was “disturbing and wrong.”

“What I saw on the video is disturbing and wrong and looks like a criminal act. It must be thoroughly investigated and I can’t imagine why it has taken this long to come to light,” Collins tweeted Thursday from his Senate campaign’s Twitter account. “My heart is torn for the family of Ahmaud Arbery. I lift them up and ask for God’s hand of love and comfort to guide them in this time of need.”

My heart is torn for the family of Ahmaud Arbery. I lift them up and ask for God’s hand of love and comfort to guide them in this time of need.

— Doug Collins (@CollinsforGA) May 7, 2020

Footage surfaced earlier this week that shows two men, identified as Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, pursuing and shooting Arbery. The two have claimed they thought Arbery was a burglar responsible for a series of break-ins in the area.

“Mr. Arbery had not committed any crime and there was no reason for these men to believe they had the right to stop him with weapons or to use deadly force in furtherance of their unlawful attempted stop,” Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Arbery’s family, said.

The district attorney’s office for Brunswick, Ga., the jurisdiction where Arbery was killed, recused itself from the case, as Gregory McMichael is a longtime investigator for the DA’s office. Earlier this week, District Attorney Thomas Durden, who is based in Hinesville, about 70 miles from Brunswick, said he would present the case to a grand jury.

Collins spoke out a day after Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) also called for a “swift and immediate” investigation. Collins is currently challenging Loeffler in a special election and leads her by a wide margin in recent polling.