Arbery Death Trial: Greg McMichael Told Police He Was Unsure If Victim Was Trespassing

GEORGIA — The three men accused of attacking and killing Ahmaud Arbery claiming citizens arrest and self-defense as he jogged in a coastal Georgia neighborhood didn’t know for sure if the 25-year-old black man had committed any crime, according to reports.

In the trial against Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan, Jr. on Wednesday, Glynn County Police Sgt. Roderic Nohilly testified that despite telling police they suspected Arbery of burglary in weeks leading up to the Feb. 23, 2020, shooting, on that day they were uncertain of his guilt.

Reading from a transcript of his conversation with Gregory McMichael as reported by CNN, Nohilly asked “Did this guy break into a house today?”

The officer read the older McMichael’s response, “Well, that’s just it. I don’t know.”

See Also: Ahmaud Arbery Death Trial: McMichael's Story Changed, Police Say

The McMichaels and Bryan face murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and other charges for their respective parts in the incident that left Arbery dead.

Also, the trio on trial was indicted on federal hate crime charges over accusations they interfered with Arbery's rights, and on one count each of attempted kidnapping, according to federal court records.

The 25-year-old Arbery was out for a jog in the neighborhood when Bryan and the McMichaels chased him in two pickup trucks, cornered him, and shot him while Bryan videoed the attack with his cell phone.

The father told Nohilly he recognized Arbery because he had been recorded by security cameras a few times inside a neighboring home under construction. Greg McMichael said they gave chase to try to stop Arbery from escaping the subdivision.

“He was trapped like a rat,” Greg McMichael said, according to a transcript of their recorded interview Nohilly read in court. "I think he was wanting to flee and he realized that something, you know, he was not going to get away.”

A neighbor who called police when he saw Arbery enter an unfinished home in the Satilla Shores neighborhood described the jogger’s actions on the property from video he had seen before, USA today reports.

“He was just standing there looking around,” Matthew Albenze testified of surveillance footage another neighbor had showed him of Arbery.

On the day of the shooting, however, Albenze testified that although he felt compelled to grab his gun when he saw Arbery he called the police non-emergency line rather than 911 because he “did not see an emergency.”

Albenze’s call to a police operator played in court and he said to the dispatcher that Arbery wasn’t breaking into the house because it was open.

“Was he just on the premises and not supposed to be?” the operator asked.

“He’s been caught on camera before,” Albenze responded. “It’s kind of an ongoing thing out here.”

Albenze testified that he didn’t know why Arbery started running, but said he soon heard gunfire and went outside to see Arbery shot.

He also said he didn’t contact the McMichaels.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.

See also:

• 1 Black Juror, 11 White Jurors Selected In Ahmaud Arbery Trial
• Ahmaud Arbery Slaying: Jury Selection Begins In Trial
• Ahmaud Arbery Trial: 65 Potential Jurors Qualify For Pool
• Jury Indicts All 3 Suspects In Ahmaud Arbery Fatal Shooting
• Ahmaud Arbery: Killing Of Black Georgia Jogger Goes To Grand Jury