Durham group honors Ahmaud Arbery with memorial run on his birthday

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – A group in Durham came together on a rainy Friday evening to hold a memorial run for Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot and killed in Georgia back in February.

The Bull City Express Track Club held the event at a trail off Broad Street and West Main Street at Duke University.

While some members of the club jogged, others walked a total of 2.23 miles, which symbolizes the day Arbery was fatally shot on February 23.

Officials say Arbery was gunned down by a white father and son while he was jogging — and now the two face murder and aggravated assault charges in Georgia.

The arrests come days after a video of the shooting went viral that shows Arbery was unarmed during the incident in Brunswick, Georgia.

The pair said they thought Arbery looked like the suspect in a series of break-ins in the area, according to police.

Friday would have been Arbery’s 26^th birthday.

Omar Beasley with the Bull City Express Track Club said they wanted to take the day to honor Arbery and to raise awareness about the issue with racial profiling that still exists.

“We as African-Americans are constantly discriminated against and stereotyped and like in this particular situation, accused of being wrong or doing wrong when we’re just being in place,” Beasley said.

Participants in the walk practiced social distancing as they wore face coverings and spread out as they walked or ran on the trail.

Another rally was held earlier in the day Friday in Brunswick where many demanded justice in the case, which did not appear to move forward until video surfaced earlier this week.