Mother of Ahmaud Arbery Thanks Supporters, Comments On Protests

MARIETTA, GA — The mother of Ahmaud Arbery thanked people Sunday who have “stood with us in the fight for justice for my son.” Wanda Cooper called in at the end of a #Verzuz performance with gospel artists Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond.

It’s a musical event streamed on Instagram between two artists. Nearly 300,000 live viewers tuned in that night. The #Verzuz music battle launched in March. Music producers Swizz Beats and Timbaland created it as a way for artists to showcase their music during the coronavirus pandemic. Sunday’s event was called “The Healing” in response to the death of George Floyd, who was killed by police last week.

“Thank you so much,” Jones said on speakerphone about the support she's received for Arbery. “Your support means the world to us and just continue to lift us up in prayer, please.”

Arbery was chased down and fatally shot while jogging through his Satilla Shores neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia, on Feb. 23. Retired police detective Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested May 7 by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, two days after the agency took over the case from local authorities.

WSB reports that Jones is speaking up about this weekend’s protests that her son’s death sparked across the country.

“It really breaks my heart that it’s come to this. The rioting. I truly understand where they’re coming from because black lives are being lost, and they’re being lost for no reason,” she said.

Joyette M. Holmes is first black woman to serve as district attorney for the Cobb County Judicial Circuit. She was appointed by Georgia's attorney general to prosecute in the Arbery case.