Investigator: Racial slur heard after Arbery shot
A Georgia investigator alleged Thursday that a white man was heard using a racial slur after Ahmaud Arbery, who was black, was chased down and then shot and killed on a residential street not far from where he lived.
New details emerged Thursday afternoon about the shooting during a probable cause hearing, the first court appearance for white father and son Gregory, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, who are accused of shooting and killing Arbery while he was jogging through Satilla Shores, a neighborhood 2 miles from his home in Brunswick.
A third white man, William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., 50, captured the killing on video. Arbery, 25, was shot three times on Feb. 23.
The three men were arrested in May – more than two months after the killing – following a storm of public outcry after video of the incident was made public.
Richard Dial, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent and the lead investigator on the Arbery case, offered new details about the chase leading up to the murder, and said Bryan told investigators he heard Travis call Arbery a racial slur as he laid on the ground after the shooting and before police arrived.
The McMichaels appeared in court from jail via video conferencing while Bryan waived his right. The hearing continued Thursday afternoon; it’s unclear when a bond hearing will be set.
Dial’s testimony
Dial testified that Bryan first mentioned the slur in a May 13 interview with GBI, and to Dial’s knowledge, Bryan had not mentioned it during previous interviews.
Dial alleges that McMichael used the same slur “numerous times” on social media and in messages. Body camera footage showed a Confederate flag sticker on the toolbox of his truck, Dial said.
On Thursday, Dial described what
“I think it was self-defense by Mr. Arbery. I believe Mr. Arbery was being pursued and he ran till he couldn’t run anymore.” Richard Dial, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent and the lead investigator on the Ahmaud Arbery case, during cross-examination
happened leading up to the shooting, saying that when Bryan first saw the McMichaels pursuing the jogger, he yelled “Do you got him?” and then joined the chase. Dial said none of them had called 911 at this point.
The McMichaels and Bryan pursued Arbery and at one point, they trapped him between their trucks as he repeatedly tried to change directions and escape. Bryan repeatedly tried to block Arbery’s path and his truck “made contact,” with Arbery leaving a dent in vehicle, Dial said.
Bryan started recording and eventually captured video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times, Dial said.
“I don’t think it was self-defense by Mr. McMichael. I think it was self-defense by Mr. Arbery,” Dial said later during cross-examination. “I believe Mr. Arbery was being pursued and he ran till he couldn’t run anymore.”
Dial testified that Gregory McMichael, meanwhile, called 911 while he was sitting in the bed of the pick-up truck during the altercation between his son and Arbery. He was armed with the same weapon he carried when he was an officer with the Glynn County Police Department, Dial said.
Gregory McMichael later told an officer responding to the scene that he had a “gut feeling” that Arbery was connected to burglaries in the area. Dial said he told police that during the shooting he said “don’t shoot” to his son, and that video footage shows him “covering” his son with his weapon.
Details on the case
The McMichaels were arrested in early May on murder and aggravated assault charges. Bryan was arrested weeks later on felony murder charges and with criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
After the McMichaels were arrested, Gregory McMichael made a call from jail in which he described Bryan as “an ally.”
Gregory McMichael, a retired police officer, told police that he and his son believed Arbery matched the description of a burglary suspect. They grabbed their guns when they saw him running in the neighborhood and told police they weren’t sure whether Arbery was armed, he has said.
Glynn County police told USA TODAY that they had no records of home breakins or burglaries between Jan. 1 and Feb. 23 in that neighborhood. Local media reported one car burglary.
Surveillance video shows Arbery stopping at a house under construction before the McMichaels pursued him. However, the owner of the property said nothing was taken and video shows several people had entered the construction site over several months.
A memo from a previous district attorney investigating the case says that Gregory McMichael told police that Bryan was involved in following Arbery before the events on the video unfold. According to an arrest warrant, Bryan “did attempt to confine and detain Ahmaud Arbery without legal authority.”
Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes was appointed to lead the prosecution last month. Holmes replaced District Attorney Tom Durden as lead prosecutor, who took over after Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson and Ware County District Attorney George Barnhill recused themselves from the case because of connections to Gregory McMichael, a former investigator with Johnson’s office.
Federal officials were also weighing the possibility of federal hate crime charges, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Justice said last month. Georgia is one of a handful of states in the U.S. that doesn’t have a hate crime prevention law.
Attorneys Frank and Laura Hogue, who are representing Gregory McMichael, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Attorneys Robert Rubin and Jason Sheffield, who are representing Travis McMichael, also did not respond.