Ali Velshi highlights the work of Larry Hobbs, reporter for the Brunswick News, who didn't settle for meager answers from local police and filed a public records request to get the police report on the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, which would become the basis for reporting that would shed some of the first public light on the case.
over the past few years journalists have increasingly been forced to question official police accounts. in june of 2020, three months after breonna taylor was killed, police in louisville, kentucky released a nearly blank report omitting that she was shot eight times by police. the month before, when george floyd was killed, minneapolis police failed to initially report that derek chauvin knelt on floyd s neck for more than eight minutes. and when ahmaud arbery was killed near brunswick, georgia last year, seasoned local journalist larry hobbs of the brunswick news knew that he needed to push for information because the police weren t sharing enough. so instead of relying on official statements hobbs filed a public records request. as hobbs told this show today, the less answers you give us, the more questions we ask. accordingly, he started to ask police, why a young man was shot dead in the middle of a sleepy neighborhood on a sunday afternoon. why an unarmed burglary suspect is sho
the month before, when george floyd was killed, minneapolis police failed to initially report that derek chauvin knelt on floyd s neck for more than eight minutes. and when ahmaud arbery was killed near brunswick, georgia, last year, seasonal local journalist larry hobbs of the brunswick news knew that he needed to push for information because the police weren t sharing enough. so instead of relying on official statements hobbs filed a public records request. as hobbs told this show today, the less answers you give us, the more questions we ask. accordingly, he started to ask police, why a young man was shot dead in the middle of a sleepy neighborhood on a sunday afternoon. why an unarmed burglary suspect is shot dead in the middle of a public street and not, say, inside a burgled home? also, was there a conflict of interest since one of the suspects previously worked for the district attorney? well, his curiosity paid off. the public record request that hobbs filed allowed him to
also, was there a conflict of interest since one of the suspects previously worked for the district attorney? well, his curiosity paid off. the public record request that hobbs filed allowed him to obtain a police report containing the first preliminary answers as to how and why arbery was killed. he published his findings on april 2nd, 2020. it was the first time america and perhaps arbery s family got a better picture of what happened. today, almost two years since arbery s killing, the three men implicated were found guilty of his murder. hobbs lead story tonight at the brunswick news, guilty. guilty. guilty. hobbs told us he usually doesn t post his stories on facebook but today reacting to the verdict he made an exception. he wrote, on so many occasions the strange and exotic and beautiful place called the south that i love so much has come up wanting in times of reckoning. today, november 24th, 2021, in a town called brunswick on the georgia coast was not such an occasion.
a better picture of what happened. today, almost two years since arbery s killing, the three men implicated were found guilty of his murder. hobbs lead story tonight at the brunswick news, guilty. guilty. guilty. hobbs told us he usually doesn t post his stories on facebook, but today, reacting to the verdict, he made an exception. he wrote, on so many occasions the strange and exotic and beautiful place called the south that i love so much has come up wanting in times of reckoning. today, november 24th, 2021, in a town called brunswick on the georgia coast was not such an occasion. tomorrow i think i ll go fishing. while today s verdict might feel like a measure of accountability, it s also one that began with a local reporter s work. so our message to you tonight is this. support your local paper. as the home page of the brunswick news notes tonight, the world needs trustworthy reporting. but good journalism isn t free. amen.