6 years after Ahmaud Arbery’s killing, runners honor his life on Atlanta’s BeltLine
By Leondra Head
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ATLANTA (WUPA) — Six years after 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed while jogging in a Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood, supporters gathered on the Atlanta BeltLine to honor his life with a run in his memory.
Arbery was killed on Feb. 23, 2020, after three white men told police they suspected him of burglary and pursued him in their trucks before fatally shooting him. Arbery was unarmed.
On Sunday, the Ahmaud Arbery Foundation partnered with the South Fulton Running Partners for a 2.2-mile run along the BeltLine — a symbolic distance representing the day of his death, Feb. 23. The Atlanta event coincided with runs held in Brunswick, where Arbery lived.
For many participants, the tragedy remains personal.
“When Ahmaud Arbery was killed, it hit close to home,” said Michael Coerber, who ran alongside his teenage son. “As a runner myself and a father of a son who’s African American, I realized the things he would be dealing with in life.”
This marked the third year Coerber’s son has taken part in the Atlanta tribute run.
“It is such a horrendous thing that happened,” said Caleb Coerber. “The fact that she had to go through the horrible thing of losing her son, I feel for Ms. Wanda. It’s a very tragic event.”
The run is now in its fifth year, organized in part by the South Fulton Running Partners, a social running club that has honored Arbery annually since 2020.
“We all run in different neighborhoods and different places,” said J.R. Hughes of the South Fulton Running Club. “The tragedy hit us because that could have been anyone of us.”
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said her son loved running and often jogged through his neighborhood.
“It’s very important we remind people of the tragedy that happened,” she said.
She described her son as “a happy kid” who enjoyed lifting weights and taking pride in his appearance. “He ran almost every day,” Cooper-Jones said.
Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael were both sentenced to life in prison in connection to Arbery’s killing. William “Roddie” Bryan, who recorded the fatal encounter, was sentenced to 35 years on federal hate crime charges.
“I will be forever grateful for those convictions,” Cooper-Jones said. “But those convictions did not bring Ahmaud home” .
Arbery’s death drew national attention and became part of a broader reckoning over racial justice in 2020. Months after his murder, Georgia lawmakers repealed the state’s citizen’s arrest law.
Six years later, runners on the BeltLine say continuing to lace up in Arbery’s name ensures his life — and the lessons from his death — are not forgotten.
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