Arbery Shooting Defendant Travis McMichael Calls Struggle For Shotgun 'Life Or Death'

BRUNSWICK, GA — The man who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery was the first witness to take the stand Wednesday afternoon, describing his struggle with the slain Black man in the trial in which he and two other white men face murder charges.

Travis McMichael told the jury the apex of their attempts to corral the man he and his father, Gregory McMichael, believed had been breaking into homes was when he came face-to-face with Arbery, and he believed the Black 25-year-old was trying to take his shotgun.

(Watch video of the trial at the bottom of this story.)

“He grabs the shotgun and I believe I was struck on that first instance that we made contact,” McMichael testified. “I was thinking of my son.

“It was obvious that he was attacking me, that if he would have got the shotgun from me then it was this life or death situation. And I'm gonna have to stop him from doing it. So I shot.”

“Did he stop when you shot him?” his attorney, Jason Sheffield, asked.

“He did not,” McMichael replied.

Attorneys defending the McMichaels and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., started court Wednesday aiming to prove that Arbery refused to comply with their attempts to make a citizen's arrest when he was killed on Feb. 23, 2020.

Minutes earlier, the older McMichael rushed into their house in the Satilla Shores subdivision to say he saw Arbery on the street.

“He said ‘Travis, the guy that’s been breaking in down the road, just ran by the house. Something’s happened,” McMichael said. “He says, ‘get in the truck.’”

Related: 'He Had My Gun,' Man Accused Of Killing Ahmaud Arbery Testified

Both men armed themselves and chased behind the unarmed Arbery, who was on foot.

Bryan saw the pursuit and joined in his own pickup truck.

From the stand Wednesday, the younger McMichael said he thought Arbery had hostile intent when they encountered one another 12 days earlier outside an unfinished home on the street.

“When he encountered him on the evening of Feb. 11, 2020, in the dark they came to within several yards of one another and McMichael said Arbery pulled up his shirt and reached into the waistband of his pants.

“Once I realize what was going on and that he is doing this, I am under the assumption that he’s armed,” McMichael said.

So on the 23rd, when the retreating Arbery didn't back down as he pulled his truck alongside him to tell him to stop, McMichael told the court he presumed Arbery had ill intent.

“He seems dangerous to me,” McMichael testified. “He's trying to get in this vehicle.”

The day started with attorneys for the three men on trial seeking to dismiss several felony charges.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley denied renewed requests for a mistrial and to grant a directed verdict acquitting all three defendants on murder charges. Defense attorneys argued that the prosecutors’ case was legally insufficient to support convictions.

A lawyer for Gregory McMichael asked Walmsley to dismiss the majority of the charges against the trio and said several counts — of felony murder and underlying charges of false imprisonment, aggravated assault using a pair of pickup trucks, and aiding and abetting — should all be dropped.

“The state has failed to make the connection between the underlying felonies that are named in counts six, seven, eight, and nine,” attorney Robert Rubin said.

See Also: Ahmaud Arbery Case: Black Pastors Criticized, Prosecution Rests

Kevin Gough, Bryan’s attorney, said charging his client as a party to a crime in this trial is improper.

“It was the state that decided to present a kitchen sink indictment to the grand jury where every defendant is charged in every possible crime in this case,” Gough said. “As to the malice murder charge, there is no contention that Roddie Bryan shot anybody.”

Still, the defense requests were rebuffed.

Walmsley also denied a request from defense attorneys to ban prominent civil rights leaders and other high-profile visitors from the courtroom and require instead that they view the trial proceedings on a video screen in another room that has been set up for additional spectators as part of COVID-19 precautions.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson sat with Arbery's parents in the back row of the courtroom Wednesday for the second time this week. Attorneys for the defendants have said Jackson's presence and that of others who have spoken out in support of convictions in the case could unfairly influence the jury.

The trial is taking place before a disproportionately white jury at the Glynn County courthouse in the port city of Brunswick.

The McMichaels told police they suspected Arbery was a burglar because security cameras had recorded him several times in the unfinished house on their street. Defense attorneys said Travis McMichael opened fire in self-defense after Arbery attacked him by throwing punches and trying to grab his gun.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

See Also:

• Ahmaud Arbery Case: 'Black Pastors' Prayer Rally Criticized
• Ahmaud Arbery Case: Defense Demands Mistrial Over 'Black Pastors'
• Ahmaud Arbery Case: Officer Said He Did Not Deputize McMichaels
• Ahmaud Arbery Case: Homeowner Never Asked McMichaels To Act
• Arbery Death Trial: McMichaels Unsure If Arbery Was Trespassing
• Ahmaud Arbery Death Trial: McMichael's Story Changed, Police Say

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