The federal government urged an Atlanta appeals court Wednesday to uphold the hate crime convictions of three white men found guilty in the February 2020 shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, saying he’d be alive today if he wasn’t Black.
Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan are all serving life sentences. Their lawyers asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn their convictions for federal hate crimes, arguing in a hearing Wednesday that Arbery’s race wasn’t a factor.
A U.S. Department of Justice attorney said evidence supports the guilty verdicts.
“Ahmaud Arbery would be alive today had he not been a Black man running on the streets of Satilla Shores,” DOJ attorney Brant S. Levine told a three-judge appellate panel in Atlanta, referring to the Glynn County subdivision where Arbery was jogging prior to the shooting. “Nobody should have to fear that if they go for a run on a public street they might end up running for their life, being chased because of the color of their skin.”
The McMichaels grabbed their guns, jumped in Travis McMichael’s pickup truck and chased Arbery as he ran through their subdivision. Bryan joined the chase in his own pickup. The younger McMichael killed Arbery during a tussle over a shotgun in the road. Arbery, who was not armed, was 25.
The defendants say they thought Arbery was a burglar, although he had nothing in his hands and they had never seen him commit a crime. Prosecutors said Travis McMichael uttered a racial slur as he stood over the dying Arbery, and that all three defendants had a history of using racial slurs.
Arbery’s murder compelled Georgia lawmakers to revive a hate crimes bill that had for years gone nowhere.
A.J. Balbo, the attorney for Gregory McMichael, said Wednesday that his client “judged” Arbery based on apparent age, height, weight, tattoos and manner of dress. Balbo said if Arbery had been a 60-year-old Black man, Gregory McMichael wouldn’t have chased him.
“The race was a non-contributing role in this matter,” Balbo said. “This isn’t about the racism of these defendants.”
Levine said the McMichaels and Bryan trapped Arbery “like a rat.”
“They terrorized Ahmaud,” he said.
Defense attorneys argued that the hate crime convictions can’t stand because the subdivision’s streets aren’t public. They said Arbery had to be using a public facility when attacked in order for the defendants to be guilty of the crimes under federal law.
One of the appellate judges noted a Glynn County official testified that the subdivision streets were under county designation.
Defense attorneys also said the government failed to prove at trial that the McMichaels and Bryan held Arbery against his will in order to gain personal benefit, voiding their convictions for attempted kidnapping.
Judge Britt C. Grant said the jury agreed with prosecutors that the benefit sought by the defendants was vigilantism.
The appellate judges didn’t say Wednesday how or when they would rule.
Even if the hate crime convictions are overturned, the three men will remain behind bars on the murder convictions.
Arbery’s father and other relatives gathered with a small group of supporters outside the federal appeals court in downtown Atlanta following Wednesday’s arguments. They want the hate crime convictions upheld.
Credit: Jason Getz
Credit: Jason Getz
Marcus Arbery thanked everyone who had supported the family since his son’s death.
“We’re going to get 100% justice for Ahmaud,” he said.
Diane Jackson, Ahmaud Arbery’s aunt, said she’s “so hurt, still.”
“We thought this would be over with now,” she said. “This is destroying my family. I’ve been sick ever since 2020.”
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