Three white men who followed and ultimately shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was out on a jog in Georgia in February 2020, have been charged by federal prosecutors with hate crimes in his death, USA Today reports.
Travis McMichael, 35; his father, Gregory McMichael, 65; and William “Roddie” Bryan, 51, were indicted Wednesday for targeting Arbery because of his race. They are already facing nine state counts each for their actions: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
The McMichaels and Bryan followed Arbery as he jogged in their neighborhood, just two miles from Arbery’s own house. They claim they suspected him of planning on looting a home construction site in their neighborhood after Arbery stopped for a drink from a spigot on the property. After confronting him by trapping him between two vehicles. Bryan filmed the encounter from the trailing car as the McMichaels approached Arbery. The McMichaels claimed Arbery became belligerent and they shot him in self-defense.
The trio was initially cleared of charges by Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill who cited they were invoking Georgia’s “citizen’s arrest” in detaining Arbery.