The three men arrested and charged for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery have been indicted on multiple counts.
What We Know:
- The three men Gregory McMichael, 64; his son Travis McMichael, 34; and their neighbor William Bryan, 50 who recorded the murder, were indicted on the following formal charges:
- Malice murder
- Four counts of felony murder
- Two counts of aggravated assault
- False imprisonment
- Criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment
- Specially appointed prosecutor Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes convened the Glynn County grand jury Wednesday after a delay in proceedings due to the pandemic.
- “This is another step forward in seeking justice for Ahmaud. Our team from the Cobb Judicial Circuit has been committed to effectively bringing forward the evidence in this case, and today was no exception,” Holmes announced. “We will continue to be intentional in the pursuit of justice for this family and the community at large as the prosecution of this case continues.”
- Arbery was shot to death in Brunswick, Georgia on Feb. 23 as he was running through the Satilla Shores neighborhood. The McMichael’s claimed that they thought he was a burglary suspect from recent neighborhood break-ins though none had been reported within seven weeks of Arbery’s murder.
- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took the case over from local authorities on May 5th, arrested the father and son McMicheal duo on May 7th, and arrested Bryan, who recorded the murder to allegedly help the McMichaels, two weeks after.
- During the investigation, it was revealed that Bryan’s truck was used to attempt to confine Arbery and after Arbery was shot, Travis McMichael called him a n—er as he was lying on the ground dying.
- Georgia recently passed a Hate Crime bill, HB 426, which includes additional penalties for “sentencing of defendants who commit certain crimes which target a victim because of the victim’s race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity.” The bill is expected to go to Governor Kemp, who is in support of the bill, for signature next.
- Attorneys for Travis McMichael and Bryan, Bob Rubin and Kevin Gough respectively made statements after the indictments were announced.
- Rubin: “In order to get an indictment, the district attorney only has to present their side of the case to the grand jury. The grand jury never heard the evidence the defense has in this case and the district attorney never sought from us any input on what to present to the grand jury and that’s unfortunate. To the indictment that’s been returned, we plan to plead not guilty and expect to present the rest of the facts in court.”
- Gough [statement makes a comparison of Officer Brosnan in Rayshard Brooks case to Bryan]: “It will undermine public confidence as a manifestation of blue privilege if the state of Georgia continues to oppose bond for Mr. Bryan, but consenting to bond for Mr. Brosnan,” Gough said. “Justice should be blind.”
- S. Lee Merritt, attorney for Arbery’s family, stated, “The family of Ahmaud Arbery is determined to see these men prosecuted, convicted and appropriately sentence for the brutal hate crime that took Ahmaud’s life over four months ago.”
No next steps including a jury trial being scheduled have been announced as of yet but we will provide updates as they are made available.
