Federal prosecutors are arguing that, from left, Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr committed a hate crime in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the killer they were accused of convicted in state court.
Glynn County Detention Center / via AP
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Glynn County Detention Center / via AP
Federal prosecutors are arguing that, from left, Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr committed a hate crime in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the killer they were accused of convicted in state court.
Glynn County Detention Center / via AP
A federal prosecutor said in court on Monday that three white men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery, a black athlete shot dead in 2020, sparked protests and calls calls for racial justice, has a history of making racist and defamatory comments in text messages.
A multiracial jury was seated in a federal hate crime trial against three men as defense attorneys admitted their client used offensive language and comments. about Blacks.
But defense attorneys insist the three men’s pursuit of the 25-year-old was motivated by the “honesty, albeit false, suspicion” that he “committed a crime” and was not solely based on race. his, Related press reported.
“I’m not asking you to like Travis McMichael,” said Amy Lee Copeland, the defense attorney for the man who shot Arbery, AP reported.
“I won’t ask you to decide that he did nothing wrong. But I will ask you to return a not guilty verdict on this indictment,” she continued.
McMichael, along with his father, Greg McMichael, chased Arbery in their pickup truck after he passed their home in Brunswick, Ga., on February 23, 2020.
Both men said they believe Arbery may be responsible for a recent string of break-ins in their Stilla Shores neighborhood. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the McMichaels in pursuit.
At one point, Travis McMichael and Arbery got into a fight, and McMichael fired his shotgun at Arbery, killing him. Arbery family members called the murder, which was captured in video by Bryan and later leaked to the public, a “modern day murder”.
Last month, all three men convicted of murder and a judge sentenced them to life in prison.
The federal procedure, which will check whether race was a factor in the murders, began a month after the three men sentenced to life in prison in a separate murder trial in Georgia state court. The jury there found the trio guilty of felony murder and other charges related to Arbery’s death.
Federal prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein said Monday that Travis McMichael repeatedly uses the “N” word and other words that describe Black people as something less than human.
Bernstein said there will be testimony that Greg McMichael, a former police officer and district attorney’s office investigator, shouted about Blacks being “nothing but trouble” and posted memes on social media. society advocates vigilance – suggests that it is better to have a loaded gun than to call the police.
Additionally, Bernstein said the third defendant, William “Roddie” Bryan, also used the N-word and other profanity, in one example, after learning that his daughter was dating a man Mr. Black. She said Bryan commented that his daughter “now has n ——- r,” according to the AP.
Bernstein told the jury, “If Ahmaud Arbery had been white, he would have gone for a jog, checked out a cool house under construction, and got home in time for Sunday dinner. Instead, he’d have finished. my life.”
Earlier, on Monday, US District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood sat among 12 jurors and four alternate jurors – from a pool of about 1,000 potential jurors who were called last week.
The court said eight of the jurors were white, three black and one Hispanic. Of the four alternate jurors, the court determined three to be white and one to be Pacific Islander. The jury in the state murder trial was almost entirely white, with only one black jury.
