Suspects indicted in Arbery killing
Charges against three white men include malice, felony murder.
ATLANTA — The three white men arrested in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was chased while running in a south Georgia neighborhood, have been indicted on murder charges by a Georgia grand jury, the prosecutor in the case announced Wednesday.
The men — Gregory McMichael, 64; his son Travis McMichael, 34; and their neighbor William Bryan, 50 — were arrested and charged last month with murder and other charges in connection with Arbery’s death, which prompted nationwide protests and indignation, particularly after a graphic video of his Feb. 23 killing was released online.
On Wednesday, the office of District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes of Cobb County announced that the Glynn County grand jury had returned an indictment with nine counts against each of the three defendants: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
“This is another step forward in seeking justice for Ahmaud,” Holmes said in a statement, adding, “We will continue to be intentional in the pursuit of justice for this family and the community at large as the prosecution of this case continues.”
Arbery, 25, was spotted in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, outside of Brunswick, Ga., while running on a Sunday afternoon. Gregory McMichael later told the authorities that he thought Arbery was a suspect in a series of break-ins in the neighborhood.
He and Travis McMichael armed themselves, they told the police, got into a pickup, and tried to catch Arbery. Bryan, who is known as Roddie, also gave chase in his vehicle, a state investigator said, and used his cellphone to film the killing of Arbery.
The video shows Arbery running toward a pickup truck with Travis McMichael standing next to it. Arbery tries to run to the other side of the truck to avoid the younger McMichael, who is armed with a shotgun. But the two struggle, and eventually McMichael shoots Arbery.
In a court hearing this month, Richard Dial, an investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said Bryan heard McMichael use a racial slur after shooting Arbery.