A white former pastor ran two miles in his Florida neighborhood with a TV, in solidarity with Ahmaud Arbery – the black man who was fatally gunned down while jogging in Georgia.
Richard Desmick posted a TikTok video of him running 2.23miles in his Vero Beach neighborhood on Friday as part of #IRunWithMaud – a protest that spawned once video of Arbery’s February killing went viral. The action was on what would have been Arbery’s 26th birthday.
It has taken nearly three months and several different prosecutors for Travis and Gregory McMichael to be arrested and charged with his killing. Georgia’s Attorney General is now investigating the handling of the case amid claims that prosecutors passed it off to protect 64-year-old Gregory, a former police detective who recently worked in the local district attorney’s office.
Richard Desmick posted a TikTok video of him running 2.23miles in his Vero Beach neighborhood on Friday as part of #IRunWithMaud
In Desmick’s video, the 34-year-old can be seen holding a wide-screen television. He sports a white t-shirt with a baseball cap that reads ‘Christ in Action.’
‘Hey guys, going on a nice leisurely jog here,’ he said in the clip, noting that he was in the suburbs carrying a TV. ‘Perfectly safe. I wonder why?’
Desmick explained to Insider that he was moved to do the demonstration once he saw the video of Arbery’s killing
Desmick explained to Insider that he was moved to do the demonstration once he saw the video of Arbery’s killing.
‘I just started crying when I just saw this poor young man running — as I have thousands of times in my life — get shot down,’ Demsick said.
He then thought: ‘Maybe I should run with a TV to show that being a suspicious character isn’t enough that someone should be shot down. Being a white person, that’s just not going to happen to me.’
Desmick shared that most in his neighborhood waved when they saw him running with the large electronic, which was even more daunting for the former pastor because of the actual string of recent burglaries that have been happening in the area. ‘Not a soul’ even asked him what he was up to, afterwards.
In a follow up clip, Desmick ran with the television while shirtless.
In a follow up clip, Desmick ran with the television while shirtless
‘All right, I figured it out. I’ve got my hat on backwards, I’m shirtless, like I’m on some episode of ‘Cops.’ I’m running with a TV. Someone’s going to stop me now, for sure,’ Demsick said in the video. ‘Cause if not, what was the problem with Ahmaud?’
On Mother’s Day, Desmick posted a video with his mother and asked her if she was worried when he ran with the TV.
‘No, of course not,’ she boldly declared in the clip.
The response from the videos have been overwhelmingly positive for Desmick, who has done outreach ministry work with the homeless.
‘People have been incredibly kind, undeservedly kind,’ Demsick said. ‘There are people who are daily working trying to correct the injustice. I just made a video.’
On Mother’s Day, Desmick posted a video with his mother and asked her if she was worried when he ran with the TV
Arbery’s killing and the handling of the case has sparked outrage around the world and some say it is proof of persistent racism in the United States. Over the weekend, people ran to honor what would have been Ahmaud’s 26th birthday and armed protesters took to the street.
The McMichaels’ defense has been that they were making a citizen’s arrest after suspecting Ahmaud of breaking into and robbing homes in their neighborhood. They said Travis, 34, then exercised his stand your ground right by shooting Ahmaud, claiming the unarmed 25-year-old reached for his gun.
The pair were charged with murder and aggravated assault after a video of them pursuing Arbery in a pick up truck and then shooting him dead in a Brunswick, Georgia street surfaced online last week.
The US Department of Justice is considering whether to also pursue federal hate crime charges against the McMichaels, officials confirmed Monday.
The McMichaels’ defense has been that they were making a citizen’s arrest after suspecting Ahmaud of breaking into and robbing homes in their neighborhood. They said Travis, 34, then exercised his stand your ground right by shooting Ahmaud, claiming the unarmed 25-year-old reached for his gun (Travis and Gregory McMichael)
The pair were charged with murder and aggravated assault after a video of them pursuing Arbery in a pick up truck and then shooting him dead in a Brunswick, Georgia street surfaced online last week
On Monday, the Georgia attorney general announced Cobb County Prosecutor Joyette M. Holmes would oversee the case.
Holmes becomes the fourth prosecutor to take the case, superseding Tom Durden, who reportedly requested to be replaced by a prosecutor with a larger staff citing the case’s growth ‘in size and magnitude.’
‘District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,’ state Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. ‘And the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.’
Arbery was hit by three shotgun blasts, according to an autopsy report released Monday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. One shot grazed his right wrist, and the other two struck him in the chest.
The 25-year-old had no drugs or alcohol in his system, and was carrying two tan bandannas which were soaked with blood.
The prosecutor, Joyette M. Holmes, is from Cobb County in the Atlanta metropolitan area, where she is the first African-American to serve as district attorney