Suspects plead not guilty to hate charges

The three men already facing murder charges from the state for last year’s fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery answered, for the first time, federal hate crime charges leveled at them in late April.

Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan all pleaded not guilty Tuesday at their arraignment on the five federal counts. They were not accompanied by attorneys; each man asked for court-appointed representation.

The charges, read aloud by U.S. Magistrate Benjamin Cheesbro, allege the three white suspects “did willfully, by force and threat of force, injure, intimidate, and interfere with Ahmaud Arbery, an African American man, because of his race and color.”

Two of the counts, revolving around the use of firearms during an alleged crime of violence, carry the possibility of life in prison if convicted.

The prosecution said they are prepared to turn over one terabyte of discovery evidence to the defense within the next week along with the complete Georgie Bureau of Investigation case file.

Travis McMichael, 35, shot and killed Arbery with a Remington shotgun and his 65-year-old father, a former cop and investigator for Brunswick’s District Attorney office, was toting a .357 magnum revolver.

On Feb. 23, 2020, Greg McMichael told police he saw Arbery running down the street in front of his house. McMichael called inside to his son and the two men jumped into a pickup truck in pursuit of Arbery. Bryan, 51, who lived nearby, joined in the chase and at one point tries to block Arbery with his pickup.