Fate of Three Men Accused of Murdering Ahmaud Arbery Now in Jury’s Hands
DECISION TIME
Georgia jurors have officially begun deliberating the fate of three men accused of chasing and murdering Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man, last February. Gregory McMichael, his son Travis, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, are accused of several crimes—including felony murder—in the Feb. 23, 2020, death of 25-year-old Arbery. Prosecutors allege that Arbery was on a jog in the Satilla Shores neighborhood when the McMichaels chased him down the street after wrongly suspecting him of burglary. Bryan, who joined the chase later on, captured infamous footage of the incident that showed Travis McMichael firing the fatal shots. The defense for the three men argued throughout the two-week trial that their clients were simply trying to perform a citizen’s arrest on Arbery in connection with suspected break-ins in the area. Travis McMichael took the stand and insisted he felt he was in a “life or death situation” when he pulled the trigger.