February 23, 2020 marked the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man jogging through the Satilla Shores neighborhood — minutes away from his own home, in Brunswick, Georgia when two local White men — Gregory (64) and his son Travis McMichael (34) — shot and killed him.
According to a letter from one of the District Attorneys involved in the case, Bryan William, another white man, filmed portions of the killing.
Video of the encounter, released months later, sparked nationwide protests and renewed calls for racial justice.
A Glynn County jury convicted Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan of murder. The three men were convicted in federal court of hate crimes. All are serving prison sentences.
In their statements to police, Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael claim they shot Ahmaud Arbery, who was unarmed, in self-defense as they were attempting to apprehend him.
The McMichaels alleged there had been “several break-ins” in the area, and when they saw Ahmaud Arbery jogging in the neighborhood, they assumed him to be the alleged suspect.
Gregory McMichael and his son, armed at least two firearms, pursued Ahmaud Arbery in a vehicle. Gregory McMichael stated Ahmaud Arbery “attack[ed]” him and his son, resulting in Travis McMichael firing at least one shot. Ahmaud Arbery died a few minutes later.
No evidence has emerged indicating that Ahmaud Arbery had committed burglary or any other crime, including attacking the McMichaels, leading up to the fatal confrontation with the McMichaels.
Wanda Cooper, Arbery’s mother, told CNN that when police notified her of her son’s death, police told her that her son had been involved in a burglary, and that there had been a confrontation between her son and the homeowner as well as a struggle over a gun.
In the months after the shooting, Georgia lawmakers repealed the state’s citizen’s arrest law and later passed a hate crimes statute.