Dozens of high-profile professional athletes recently called on the US Justice Department to conduct a fair and thorough federal investigation of the February shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.
But for one NFL player it's especially personal.
Detroit Lions defensive back Tracy Walker recently revealed Arbery was his second cousin. The two grew up only a year apart, attended the same high school, and were teammates on the football team.
Walker opened up with ESPN on Monday about the fatal shooting and the wide range of emotions he has been feeling since watching the jarring video footage of his cousin's death "over 100 times."
"Man, he did not deserve that," Walker told ESPN. "He did not deserve that. And, you know, God has a plan for everybody, man, but, you know, it's tough. It is. That's why I watched it so many times. I couldn't grasp it. It's such a gruesome video, you want to know why."
Late last week, police in Georgia arrested two suspects, Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael, in the shooting death of Arbery, who was gunned down while jogging on a sleepy suburban street in Brunswick, Georgia, after a brief pursuit and scuffle with the McMichaels.
The Justice Department was reportedly said to be considering hate crime charges.
"We want justice for Ahmaud,” Walker told ESPN. “We want the proper justice.”
Walker, a third-round pick out of Louisiana-Lafayette in 2018, said he saw his cousin fairly regularly when he would return to Brunswick in recent years, including as recently in February, mere weeks before Arbery's death, when they watched the Super Bowl together and later went out for a drink.
Arbery was a gentle person, Walker said. He described his fallen cousin as an easygoing jokester.
“He was a beautiful soul,” Walker said. “He wasn’t a hateful person. He was not. I can’t name one person he had a beef with growing up. Everybody loved Ahmaud because he was just a clown, a funny guy.”
Walker said he is appreciative of the outpouring of support he has received since Arbery's tragic demise, as well as the efforts of the athletes who signed and sent the letter to US Attorney General Barr.
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