Ahmaud Arbery’s killers ask appeals court to overturn their hate crime convictions
A U.S. appeals court heard arguments Wednesday from attorneys seeking to overturn the hate crime conviction of three white men in the death of Ahmaud Arbery.
ATLANTA — A panel of judges heard arguments Wednesday from attorneys seeking to overturn the hate crime conviction of three white men who used pickup trucks to chase Ahmaud Arbery through a subdivision in Georgia in 2020 before one of them killed the Black man with a shotgun. Gregory McMichael; his son, Travis McMichael, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, were found guilty of murder in a Georgia state court in November 2021. They were sentenced to life in prison. After a federal trial, they were found guilty of hate crimes and other charges in February 2022. They did not appear in court Wednesday.
From left, Gregory McMichael, William "Roddie" Bryan and Travis McMichael during their trial at Glynn County Superior Court in Brunswick, Ga.PoolThe hate crimes trial centered on the three men’s racial bias — a motive that prosecutors in the state case largely avoided. Arbery’s family and civil rights leaders have likened his death to a modern-day lynching. His death, along with the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of police in 2020, ignited furor over the shooting deaths of Black people and sparked international protests against racial injustice.
In a legal brief filed ahead of Wednesday's arguments, prosecutors said: “As to why defendants chased, trapped, and ultimately killed Arbery, the evidence at trial showed that they held longstanding hate and prejudice toward Black people, while also supporting vigilante justice.”
The three men’s attorneys argue that evidence of past racist comments they made didn’t prove a racist intent to harm.
The attorneys also argued that the hate crime conviction should be thrown out because Arbery was not killed on a public street, which they said is required for the defendants to be found guilty under federal law.
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