Hundreds of people join the memorial walk to honor the memory of Ahmaud Arbery

BRUNSWICK, Georgia. – It’s been just over a year since Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed in the Satilla Shores neighborhood off the United States 17 outside Brunswick.

There is a small memorial for Ahmaud Arbery in the neighborhood, but something much bigger made its way on Saturday as hundreds of people drove and biked through the neighborhood on a commemorative walk honoring the life of Arbery.

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“I rode with Ahmaud today because I grew up with him. I saw him around the neighborhood and felt it was something I needed to do to show my support for him and his family, ”said pilot Zyron Wise. “It made me feel a lot of emotions personally. For something like that to happen and the way it happened, really hurt a lot of people. It could have been any of us.

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Arbery was gunned down just over a year ago on February 23, 2020. Prosecutors said he was confronted while jogging the neighborhood and now three men – Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William Roddie Bryan – are awaiting trial for malicious murder, false imprisonment and several other charges linked to Arbery’s death.

“We have to remember that we have to hold these people accountable for what they have done. And then we have to go out and do it right, change the legislation and just be proactive in our community, ”said Carla Arbery, Ahmaud Arbery’s aunt.

Arbery’s aunts, who organized Saturday’s race, said that while the race was not emotionally easy for many, they were planning to make it an annual event.

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They also said the ride was for more than their nephew. It was also for Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others whose lives they say were lost because of a system that failed them.

“We just want to live in love and unity and just know how to stand up for justice and stand up for all,” said Thea Brooks, Arbery’s aunt.

The family said Arbery’s death was not in vain because they saw changes in the leadership of the government and in the law on the arrest of Georgian citizens – which was cited in the first days after Ahmaud’s gunshot death as a reason not to prosecute his accused murderers.

The family said they were grateful for the community’s support and were preparing for the trial.

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Although they say it will be difficult to relive the moments of Ahmaud’s murder, it is a fight they say they have to face for everyone.

“You have to relive those times when he exposed himself alone,” Thea Brooks said. “You have to relive those moments of what he was thinking when he ran for 7 minutes, so the trial is going to be a different story.”

But they had the support of people across the country and in their backyards – like a group from Jacksonville who drove Jeeps on Saturday’s ride.

“We have to keep his name alive. We have to keep the memory of him alive, ”said Brandon Thomas, organizer of Demand the Respect. “And to know that injustice is never tolerated and will never be tolerated.”