Ahmaud Arbery: Witness Says Before Shooting the McMichaels Hit Him with Their Car

CHICAGO, IL – The three white men who are accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery faced a Glynn County judge Thursday morning for their preliminary and bond hearings. Arbery, an unarmed black man, was being pursued by Travis and Gregory McMichael, two white man, when he was gunned down while jogging on February 23 near Brunswick, Georgia.

A 28-second cell phone video of Arbery being shot and killed flooded social media platforms months later and the public called for the McMichaels to be arrested. On May 5, officials with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations secured search warrants to arrest the McMichaels on murder and aggravated assault charges. On May 21, the man who filmed the killing, William “Roddie” Bryan, was arrested on felony murder charges. 

Initially a prosecutor said Travis McMichael was allowed to use deadly force to protect himself under state law; however, when asked by Travis McMichaels lawyer whether Mr. McMichael could have acted in self-defense, he said it was Arbery who had been defending himself.

Bryan not only helped ambush Arbery, but he also struck him with his pickup truck moments before Arbery was killed. Investigators who examined Bryan’s truck found a dent, fibers from Arbery’s white shirt, and handprints. Arbery managed to escape and change direction before him and the McMichaels blocked him again minutes later.

Bryan told investigators he heard Travis McMichael use a racial epithet after fatally shooting Arbrey. The hearing lasted nearly seven hours, with the judge ruling all three defendants – McMichael; his father, Gregory McMichael; and William “Roddie” Bryan – would stand trial on all charges. 

Arbery’s last moments emerged amid a week of nationwide protests over another killing – of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis – and demonstrators have called for justice in Arbery’s case.

Richard Dial, GBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, testified that Bryan told police Travis McMichael used a derogatory term after shooting Arbery four times that left him dead in the street in the Satilla Shores neighborhood. The footage also shows a Confederate flag sticker on the toolbox of the McMichael’s truck.

Dial also testified that there were numerous times on social media that McMichael used the same slur, and once messages someone that he loved his job because there “weren’t any N-words anywhere.” In another instance, he messaged someone stating it would be better if someone had “blow that N-word’s head off.” Dial did not say which McMichael he was referring to and was not asked to clarify.

With tensions already running high in Brunswick and the rest of the country, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said the state will do “whatever is necessary to keep the peace.”