Footage obtained by The Guardian through a public records request shows a police officer in Brunswick, Georgia attempting to tase Ahmaud Arbery back in 2017.
An unarmed Arbery was killed on February 23, 2020 after Gregory and Travis McMichael chased him down and shot him while he was jogging in the neighborhood of Satilla Shores. Arbery, who was 25 at the time he was murdered, was questioned by police in November of 2017 after he was spotted sitting in his Toyota Camry rapping to instrumentals at Townsend Park. Officer Michael Kanago took Arbery's ID and searched him for weapons. He had none. When Arbery repeatedly demanded to know why he was being detained, Kanago claimed the area was "known for drug activity." When another officer named David Haney arrived, he began screaming at Arbery and tased him, though the gun malfunctioned.
"I'm trying to ease my mind. I'm rapping. I rap, bro... I get one day off a week. I'm tryna chill on my day off, bruh. I'm up early in the morning trying to chill," Arbery can be heard saying in the video to the cops. Arbery worked for Blue Beacon Truck Wash at the time.
After he used his taser on him, Haney said he "didn't realize" Arbery was already searched for weapons by Kanago. "I can see a wallet or something," Haney said. Arbery was not arrested or cited.
TMZ pointed out that Gregory McMichael, one of the men that was charged in the killing of Arbery formerly worked as an officer with Glynn County PD, the same department the two officers who detained Arbery were employed with. In early May, over two months after Arbery was killed, Gregory and Travis McMichael , who are father and son, were charged and arrested with murder and aggravated assault.
You can watch video of the tense 2017 tasing incident below via The Guardian.
