U.S. Attorneys, Assistant AG respond to appeals by Arbery's murderers
Jun. 10—Attorneys with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Assistant Attorney General say Ahmaud Arbery would still be alive today had he not been a Black man running on public streets and that the hate-crime convictions of his murderers should stand in federal court.
A 57-page brief filed June 2 in response to appeals made by Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan, the three men convicted of murdering Arbery in February 2020, said the jury in the case made the correct determination of guilt based on evidence presented at trial of a history of racism by the three men. That history and their actions in chasing Arbery through the streets of the Satilla Shores neighborhood in pickup trucks and ultimately killing him meet the federal standards for a hate crime, the brief said.
"Ahmaud Arbery would be alive today had he not been a Black man running on public streets when defendants pursued and killed him," the brief said.
The three defendants are appealing the federal hate crime conviction in the U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit claiming that race did not motivate the White men's actions and that the federal government does not have jurisdiction for a federal hate crime case because the streets in the subdivision are not public. They are also appealing convictions on attempted kidnapping.
The U.S. Attorneys' brief addresses all three appeals and said the jury heard evidence about how the men "detested Black people, associated Black people with criminality, and yearned to carry out vigilante justice."
Those "toxic" views led the men to assume that because Arbery was Black he was a criminal, the brief said.
"Defendants assumed that because Arbery was a Black man running on their neighborhood streets, he must be a criminal, and they hunted him on those streets for several minutes before killing him," the brief said.
Travis McMichael specifically argued in his appeal that the streets of Satilla Shores are not publicly maintained and therefore are private, preventing the federal government from having jurisdiction. The response brief said the jury had enough evidence to convict Travis McMichael of a hate crime without regard to whether the streets where the crime occurred were public. It also argues that because the streets of the neighborhood are used by the public, the federal government has jurisdiction.
The brief also supports the three men's convictions on attempted kidnapping charges, saying that the men do not dispute that they were trying to unlawfully seize or confine Arbery. The defendants argue instead that they did not act to secure any benefit in doing so.
"As to the next element, whether defendants acted to secure a benefit, the evidence showed that defendants wanted the personal satisfaction of inflicting vigilante justice on a Black man they assumed to be a criminal, or even just a reputational boost as neighborhood crimestoppers," the brief said.
Greg McMichael and Travis McMichael were convicted of murder and other associated charges in Glynn County Superior Court and sentenced in January 2022 to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Bryan, who was their accomplice, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
The trio was then convicted a month later of federal hate crimes in the Southern District of Georgia for attempting to kidnap Arbery and interfering with his right to use a public street because he was Black. The McMichaels were also both found guilty of brandishing a firearm in the commission of a violent crime. Travis McMichael was also found guilty federally of discharging a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.
