President Donald Trump Reacts To Ahmaud Arbery Death

President Donald Trump said the inicident in which Ahmaud Arbery was killed could have had “something that we didn’t see on tape,” in reference to the video that showed the chase and physical confront ation that ended in the shooting.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday (May 7), he offered condolences to Arbery’s family. “My heart goes out to the parents and to the loved ones of the young gentleman. It’s a very sad thing.”

Trump said he was expecting a full report on what happened but seemed to imply the tape doesn’t tell the whole story.  “If you saw, things went off tape and then back on tape. But it was a troubling, I mean to anyone that watched it, certainly it was a disturbing or troubling video. No question about that,” he said.

As far as what comes next in the case, Trump said he trusts those handling the case. “They have very good law enforcement in the state of Georgia,” he said, “and I am sure they are going to come up with exactly what happened.”

Trump said he had not seen video of the incident, which was released on Tuesday (May 5). 

Former vice president and current Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden tweeted about Arbery’s murder on Tuesday, shortly after video of the killing was released. “The video is clear: Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood. My heart goes out to his family, who deserve justice and deserve it now. It is time for a swift, full, and transparent investigation into his murder,” he wrote.

Arbery was killed on February 23, while he was jogging, unarmed, in broad daylight. Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael were arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations on Thursday (May 7) on charges of murder and aggravated assault, following mounting public pressure and calls for justice.