Gregory and Travis McMichael
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Gregory and Travis McMichael are a father-and-son duo from Georgia, USA, who shot and killed unarmed African-American jogger Ahmaud Arbery on 23 February 2020 in Satilla Shores, Georgia. The McMichaels, alongside their neighbour William "Roddie" Bryan, pursued Arbery, who they suspected of burglary, until Travis McMichael caught up and struggled with Arbery and McMichael shot Arbery in the chest with a shotgun. The murder has been described by many sources as a "hate crime".
The Arbery case gained international attention due to video of the shooting taken by William Bryan during the chase. It was one of several 2020 cases that kick-started the Black Lives Matter movement in America and worldwide, including the killing of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin and the shooting of Daunte Wright by Kimberly Potter.
Biography edit
Greg McMichael served as a GCPD officer from 1982 to 1989. Following his retirement from the force, he was an investigator for the District Attorney's office from 1995 to 2019, when he retired. Interestingly, one of McMichael's later investigations was into a shoplifting charge against his future victim Ahmaud Arbery. It's unclear if McMichael knew this when he and his son committed the murder. Travis McMichael, Greg's son, is a former U.S. Coast Guard mechanic.
Some sources have claimed that the elder McMichael was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, but there has been no concrete evidence to prove this.
Prior to Arbery's murder, an African-American suspect had carried out several burglaries in the area and had broken into the McMichael's under-construction house several times.
Murder of Ahmaud Arbery edit
On 23 February 2020, Greg McMichael saw Arbery running past him after leaving his under-construction house and, assuming he was the suspect who had broken into the construction site, grabbed a gun and chased after him with help from Travis in order to make a citizen's arrest. William Bryan saw the pursuit and joined in his pickup truck, attempting to hit Arbery several times.
A video recorded by William Bryan shows Arbery running down the neighbourhood road when he is cut off by the McMichael's pickup truck and Bryan's truck stops behind him, boxing him in. Arbery runs around the truck and is pursued by Travis McMichael, armed with a shotgun, and Greg McMichael, armed with a handgun. At this point the camera's view is partially blocked by the McMichael's truck, but Arbery and Travis McMichael are seen to fight and a gunshot is heard (whether it was fired before or after the struggle is unclear). The two of them then disappear offscreen and a second shot is heard. When they reappear, Arbery throws a right-handed punch at McMichael's head and McMichael fires a shot point-blank, hitting him in the chest. McMichael walks away as Arbery staggers back and collapses, leaving him bleeding to death in the road. He was pronounced dead by police responding to Greg McMichael's 911 call. As Arbery lay dying, Travis McMichael is said to have insulted him and called him a "fucking nigger".
Aftermath edit
Arbery's autopsy ruled his death a homicide. During the state prosecutor's investigation into the shooting, Greg McMichael persuaded William Bryan to release his video of the shooting to local news in the hopes that it would exonerate them. This only led to national outrage over the shooting after the video went viral.
On 7 May, both McMichaels were arrested and charged with felony murder, malice murder, felony assault (both with a pickup truck and with a firearm) and attempt to commit false imprisonment. Bryan was arrested on the same charges on 21 May on the grounds that he had participated in the pursuit of Arbery, making him criminally liable for Arbery's death. Bryan alleged that Travis McMichael had used racial epithets while struggling with Arbery; he had also used racial slurs in previous social media posts and had a Confederate flag painted on the side of his truck.
Trial edit
The trial of the McMichaels and Bryan began on 5 November 2021. The McMichael's defence was that they had probable cause to believe that Arbery had committed a crime and so were within their rights to chase after him. Evidence introduced during the trial included William Bryan's video and Greg McMichael's 911 calls, during which he stated he was unsure if Arbery had committed a crime. Testimony was heard from two police officer who interviewed Greg McMichael after the shooting, who reported that he had admitted to being unsure if Arbery had committed a crime when he pursued him and to having threatened to "blow [his] fucking head off" during the chase. Recorded phone calls from the two McMichaels were played to the court, during which they expressed no remorse for Arbery's death and referred to it as a "good deed". Facebook posts by Travis McMichael were presented, including one where he said that thieves should be "made an example of".
Greg McMichael and William Bryan both invoked their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent when asked to testify, but Travis McMichael agreed. He claimed that he had previously seen Arbery attempting to break into the construction site and that he had only been intending to observe Arbery when he chased after him. According to Travis McMichael's story, Arbery had attacked William Bryan's truck and he had grabbed his shotgun to chase him away; he had then pursued him with no intention of firing until the final confrontation, when Arbery attacked him and was shot in self-defence.
The prosecution's closing argument was made on 22 November 2021. Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski argued that, according to the Georgia citizen's arrest statute, the McMichaels could not legally arrest Arbery because they had no immediate knowledge that he had committed a crime and no reasonable suspicion that he had committed a felony. She rejected Travis McMichael's self-defence argument since Arbery had only lashed out after the McMichaels and Bryan chased after him with guns, attempted to knock him down with a truck and threatened to shoot him, pointing out that Travis McMichael had pointed his shotgun at Arbery moments before he attacked him. The defence argued that the McMichaels had reason to believe Arbery was a burglar due to the previous incidents.
After 12 hours deliberation spanning two days, the jury announced its verdict on 25 November 2021. Travis McMichael was convicted on all counts; Greg McMichael was acquitted of malice murder but convicted on all other counts. William Bryan was acquitted of both malice murder and felony assault with a firearm but convicted of felony murder, attempted false imprisonment and felony assault with a pickup truck. All three men were sentenced to life imprisonment on 7 January 2022, with only Bryan having the opportunity for parole. They were also given a federal trial for hate crimes and attempted kidnapping. They were convicted on all counts on 22 February 2022. Travis McMichael was sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison, Greg McMichael an additional seven.