Federal Hate Crime Charges Filed in Ahmaud Arbery Killing

GEORGIA — The three white men accused of chasing, corralling and killing Ahmaud Arbery last year as he jogged near his south Georgia home were indicted Wednesday on federal hate crime charges.

Travis McMichael, 35, Gregory McMichael, his 65-year-old father, and William “Roddie” Bryan, 51, were charged with one count each of interfering with Arbery’s rights and with one count each of attempted kidnapping, according to federal court records.

The hate crimes are Count One and Two of the federal indictment which claims the trio “did willfully, by force and threat of force, injure, intimidate and interfere with Auhmaud Arbery, an African American man, because of Arbery’s race and color … as Arbery was running on a public street in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick, Georgia.”

As Arbery ran through the Glynn County neighborhood, prosecutors say the McMichaels armed themselves with a .357 Magnum revolver and a Remington pump-action shotgun, got into a truck and chased him, yelling at him and eventually blocking his escape and threatening his life. Bryan followed in a separate truck, also cutting off Arbery’s route, prosecutors said. Count One concluded that the actions of Travis and Gregory McMichael killed Arbery.

The maximum sentence for the two hate crime counts are life in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000 each, court documents show. The kidnapping charges carry a maximum prison time of 20 years.

The McMichaels were also charged with one count each of using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm, while Bryan was charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm.

When the incident happened in February 2020, the three initially avoided arrest invoking Georgia’s archaic and soon-to-be revamped “citizens arrest” by claiming that they caught Arbery illegally entering someone’s property. In recent months, state lawmakers have overhauled the law, and it awaits signature by Gov. Brian Kemp.

The McMichals and Bryan are already being held without the chance of bond in the Glynn County jail on state charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony. A judge in January denied Bryan’s second request for bond, according to First Coast News.

See also:

• Lead Prosecutor In Ahmaud Arbery Case Leaves Cobb DA's Office
• Ahmaud Arbery Shooting To Be Investigated As Hate Crime: Report
• GBI Arrests Man Who Recorded Video Of Ahmaud Arbery Shooting