Shot after man hit him, slaying defendant says

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The man who fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery testified Wednesday that Arbery attacked him and grabbed his shotgun after he and his father pursued the 25-yearold Black man in their Georgia neighborhood.

Travis McMichael’s testimony came as defense attorneys opened their case by building on arguments that their clients were lawfully trying to stop burglaries in their neighborhood.

Asked by his attorney why he shot Arbery, McMichael responded: “He had my gun. He struck me. It was obvious that he was attacking me, that if he would have gotten the shotgun from me, then this was a life or death situation, and I’m going to have to stop him from doing this, so I shot.”

McMichael said his father, Greg McMichael, entered their home in “almost a frantic state” and told him to “get your gun” on Feb. 23, 2020.

The two got into Travis McMichael’s truck and tracked down Arbery, asking him to stop and saying the police were coming. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit.

Eventually, McMichael stopped his truck and got out. He said Arbery came running toward him and grabbed his gun.

“I was thinking of my son,” he said, choking up. “It sounds weird, but that’s the first thing that hit me.”

“What did you do?” defense attorney Jason Sheffield asked. “I shot,” McMichael said. Bryan told police that he tried to run Arbery off the road and recorded cellphone video as McMichael fired three shotgun blasts, and Arbery fell face down in the street.

Bryan’s attorney, Kevin Gough, argued that Bryan never intended to harm Arbery and never hid his involvement in the pursuit. He noted that Bryan openly shared his cellphone video — the key piece of evidence in the case — with police officers at the scene.

The McMichaels told police that they suspected Arbery was a burglar because security cameras had recorded him several times in the unfinished house on their street.

The trial is taking place at the Glynn County courthouse in the port city of Brunswick.