Relatives of Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old Black man shot to death while jogging in Georgia, met privately with President Donald Trump on Tuesday but did not attend a subsequent event in which Trump signed an order on policing.
The closed-door meeting, which also included other victims' families, became "very contentious," according to a spokesman for an attorney representing some of the relatives. The families did not appear at a Rose Garden event minutes later in which Trump vowed to seek justice in their cases but sidestepped concerns about systemic racism in some police departments.
Flanked by police officials, Trump used the televised address to describe the families he had met with as "incredible" but also repeated his "law and order" mantra that has become a central theme of his response to protests and unrest in several cities.
"All Americans mourn by your side. Your loved ones will not have died in vain," Trump said during the event. "We are one nation. We grieve together. And we heal together."
Minutes before he walked into view, Trump met with the relatives of several Black men – some of whom had been killed by police. Shaun King, a spokesman for an attorney representing some of the families, told USA TODAY that the meeting appeared to be "arranged less to hear about these families that had been horribly impacted by this police violence" and more about "an opportunity for Trump and (Attorney General William) Barr and others to highlight police unions who were there."
King described the meeting as "very contentious" and tweeted that the families opted out of the executive order signing event. The White House declined to discuss the meeting.
