Taylor Swift has joined the national outrage over the alleged murder of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery by a father and son in Brunswick, Georgia–an attack that many have deemed a modern day lynching.
“I’m absolutely devastated and horrified by the senseless, cold blooded, racially motivated killing of Ahmaud Arbery,” Swift tweeted on Thursday (May 7), using the hashtag #JusticeForAhmaud.
A graphic video of the alleged Feb. 23 killing surfaced, in which a vehicle follows the 25-year-old as he jogs toward a pickup truck parked on the side of the road. 34-year-old Travis McMichael, holding a shotgun, and his father, 64-year-old Gregory McMichael confront Arbery, who fights with Travis McMichael over his shotgun. After some shots, Arbery is seemingly wounded, and falls to the ground trying to run away. Police said Arbery was not armed and not a suspect in any crime, but instead was a former football player who frequently jogged through the neighborhood for exercise.
Due to the national outrage, on Thursday afternoon (May 8), nearly three months after the incident, Travis and Gregory McMichael were arrested and charged with aggravated assault and murder.