The lawyers for Ahmaud Arbery – the 25-year-old black man who was fatally shot by two white men while jogging through his Georgia neighborhood back in February – were having trouble finding a flight earlier this week to get to Brunswick, Georgia for a court hearing. The two lawyers were about to lose hope that they were going to be able to make it on time, and then Jay-Z stepped in to help.
Attorney Blerim Elmazi and his legal partner S. Lee Merrit revealed on Instagram this week that the music mogul loaned them his private plane after they spent hours trying to find flights or cars to get them to southern Georgia.
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“At 1 am we started losing hope till we got a call from Jay Z’s people at Roc Nation who chartered a flight for us to attend this hearing with the family of Ahmaud Arbery. Thankful for their support. Updates on the hearing soon,” wrote Elmazi.
Merritt – who founded the law firm that Arbery’s family hired – also shared a thankful message on Instagram: “When you absolutely have to be in Court to stand with your client and righteous protestors for justice … Jay Z sends his private jet. That’s part of the P.P.E plan to get us out of this Crisis (People Power Political Power Economic Power).”
Both Instagram posts featured pics of the two men standing outside of the plane while wearing masks and holding up t-shirts that read “Legal Observer.”
Three months before four Minneapolis police officers were responsible for the death of George Floyd, two armed men – Gregory McMichael and his son Travis – chased Arbery down on a street in Brunswick and then shot and killed him while he was jogging on the afternoon of February 23rd.
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It took nearly three months for prosecutors to charge Gregory, 64, and Travis, 34 with murder and aggravated assault. It wasn’t until a video surfaced of the incident – which was filmed by William Bryan – that charges were filed against the father and son. According to People magazine, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled Arbery’s death a homicide. Bryan has also been charged with murder.
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GBI Special Agent Richard Dial testified in the preliminary hearing last Thursday that Arbery’s killer yelled a racial slur at him after he had been shot three times and was lying on the pavement. Dial also revealed that Travis McMichael had used racial slurs on social media and in text messages before the incident.
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