Feds indict 3 men on hate crimes in Georgia killing

Charges include threats, use of force toward Ahmaud Arbery

ATLANTA — A federal grand jury in Brunswick on Wednesday handed up a hate crimes indictment against the three men facing state murder charges for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery.

The indictment alleges that Travis McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan used force and threats of force to intimidate and interfere with Arbery’s right to use a public street because of his race. It also accuses them of trying to kidnap Arbery while he ran through the Satilla Shores neighborhood just outside Brunswick.

Lawyers for the McMichaels issued statements denying the new charges.

The indictment, obtained by the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. attorney’s office in Savannah, also accuses both of the McMichaels of using weapons during alleged crimes of violence. Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery with a Remington shotgun and his father, a former police office and investigator, was wielding his .357 Magnum revolver.

On Feb. 23, 2020, Greg McMichael saw Arbery running down the street in front of his house. McMichael called inside to his son and the two men got their weapons, jumped into a pickup truck and sped after Arbery. Bryan, who lived down the street, soon joined in the chase and tried to block Arbery with his own pickup.

When the three men, who are white, had Arbery hemmed in, Arbery lunged at Travis McMichael who had gotten out of his truck with his shotgun trained on Arbery. McMichael killed the unarmed Arbery, who is Black, with three blasts.