Man who shot Ahmaud Arbery sentenced to life in prison for federal hate crimes

Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William "Lody" Bryan were sentenced to life in prison each for murder in state court, months after , all three of whom were convicted of Arbery's murder were put on trial. Second round of criminal charges Monday for federal hate crime committed in fatal pursuit of 25-year-old black man. After Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and Brian will be sentenced.

U.S. District Judge Lisa Godby Wood will sentence each defendant individually, starting with Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery after a street chase initiated by her father. A series of public hearings were scheduled for this purpose. neighbor.

Arbery's murder on February 23, 2020 was a racial injustice and an unarmed black man, including George His Floyd, in Minneapolis and Breona. Kentucky's Taylor, who became part of a larger national calculation over the murder of Those two of his cases also resulted in the Department of Justice filing charges with the federal government.

When they returned to court in Georgia on Monday, McMichael, his father Greg McMichael, and neighbor William "Rody" Bryan said in February that a jury had declared federal hate. Possible life imprisonment after conviction for crime.All three men who targeted him on grounds of rights and racewere also convicted of attempted kidnapping. Convicted of the crime, Mr. and Mrs. McMichael face additional penalties for committing a violent crime using a firearm.

The punishment they received in federal court could ultimately be more symbolic than anything else. A state high court judge sentenced all three of his men to life in prison in January for Arbery's murder.

All three defendants were imprisoned in coastal Glynn County under the control of the U.S. Marshals while awaiting sentencing after federal convictions in January. stay.

They were first charged with murder in a state court and convicted, so the protocol required the Georgia State Correctional Service to serve life imprisonment. It was to be handed over to the station. in state prison.

In court filings last week, Travis and Greg McMichael asked the judge to convert them to federal prisons instead, saying they were not safe in Georgia's prison system, which is subject to the U.S. Department of Justice. The study focused on violence among inmates.

Arbery's family argued that Mr. and Mrs. McMichael and Brian should serve time in state prison, and that federal prison was less harsh. When seeking a deal, his parents vehemently opposed it before a federal trial.The judge dismissed the plea bargain.

An Augusta attorney and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, he said, according to Ed Tarver, that federal judges waived lawful custody of inmates to the Federal Prison Service. It has no authority to order the states to do so. He said a judge could require the state Department of Corrections to extradite a defendant to federal prison. After spotting Arbery running in front of his house outside, he armed himself with a gun and jumped into his truck to chase Arbery. Brian joined the chase in his truck and helped out. Cut off Arbery's escape. He also recorded cell phone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range as Arbery threw a punch and grabbed a shotgun.

Mr. and Mrs. McMichael told police they suspected Arbery had robbed from a house under construction nearby. It was later concluded that he was unarmed and had committed no crime.Arbery's family has claimed that Arbery was merely jogging.[148][149] More than two months passed before charges were filed in the death. McMichaels and Brian were arrested after graphic video of the shooting was leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police.

February hate crime trial , prosecutors showed jurors about 20 text messages and social media posts in which Travis McMichael and Brian used racist slurs and made slanderous comments, suggesting that Arbery's murder was not human. reinforced their claim that they were motivated by speciesism. about black people. One woman testified that she heard her angry rant from Greg McMichael in 2015.

Attorneys for the three defendants acted on a serious suspicion that Arbery had committed a crime in the neighborhood, rather than McMichaels and Brian tracking him down because of his race.

In:
• Ahmaud Arbery
• Georgia
• Murder
• Civil Rights
• Hate Crimes
• Crime