BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The white father and son who stalked and killed Ahmaud Arberry in a Georgia neighborhood received a second life sentence Monday — for federal hate crimes, months after receiving their first murder conviction — at a hearing , which ended nearly two years of criminal proceedings.
U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godby Wood handed down the sentences against Travis McMichael, 36, and his father, Greg McMichael, 66, reiterating the seriousness of the February 2020 slaying that shattered their Brunswick community. William “Roddy” Bryan, 52, who recorded cellphone video of the killing, was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
“A young man is dead. Ahmaud Arbury will be forever 25. And what happened, the jury said, happened because he’s black,” Wood said.
The McMichaels were previously sentenced to life in prison without parole in state court for Arbury’s murder and had asked the judge to transfer them to a federal prison to serve out their sentences, saying they were worried about their safety in the prison system. state prisons. Brian had tried to serve his federal sentence first. Wood denied all three requests.
The sentences handed down on Monday ended the second trial of the men responsible for Arberry’s murder, which, along with the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the fatal shooting of Breona Taylor in Kentucky, fueled a wave of nationwide protests against the killings of unarmed black men.
In February, a federal jury convicted McMichaels and Bryan of violating Arberry’s civil rights, concluding that they targeted him because of his race. All three were also found guilty of attempted kidnapping, and McMichaels was convicted of using a weapon in the commission of a felony.
The McMichaels armed themselves with guns and used a pickup truck to chase after Arbury after he drove past their home on February 23, 2020. Brian, a neighbor, joined the chase in his own truck and recorded cell phone video of Travis McMichael. who shot Arbury with a shotgun. The McMichaels told police they suspected Arbury was a burglar, but investigators determined he was unarmed and committed no crimes.
“I’m very grateful,” Arbury’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told reporters outside the courthouse after all three sentences were handed down. “It was a long battle. I am so thankful that God gave us the strength to keep fighting.”
The hearings marked the first time the men involved in the deadly chase had expressed any remorse to Arbury’s family. Only Travis McMichael, the fatal shooter, chose to remain silent when given the opportunity to speak in court.
Greg McMichael told Arbury’s family their loss was “indescribable”.
“I’m sure my words mean very little to you, but I want to assure you that I never meant for any of this to happen,” he said. “There was no malice in my heart or my son’s heart that day.”
Brian said he was sorry.
“I never intended to harm him and I would never have played any part in what happened if I knew then what I know now,” Brian said.
In giving Bryan a lesser sentence, Wood noted that he did not bring a gun when he chased Arbury and kept his cell phone video, which was crucial to the prosecution.
Travis McMichael’s attorney, Amy Lee Copeland, said a lighter sentence would be more in line with what defendants with similar charges have received in other cases, noting that the police officer who killed Floyd in Minneapolis, Derek Chauvin, received 21 years in prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights, even though he was not accused of targeting Floyd because of his race.
Greg McMichael’s attorney, AJ Balbo, also cited Chauvin’s sentence, as well as his client’s age and health problems, which he said include a stroke and depression.
During the February hate crime trial, prosecutors bolstered their case that Arbury’s killing was racially motivated by showing the jury about two dozen text messages and social media posts in which Travis McMichael and Brian used racial slurs and made disparaging comments about black people.
Prosecutor Christopher Pera said the trial evidence proved “what so many people felt in their hearts when they watched the video of Ahmoud’s tragic and unnecessary death: this would never have happened if he were white.”
A state Supreme Court judge handed down life sentences to McMichaels and Bryan in January for Arberry’s murder, with both McMichaels denied any chance of parole. All three defendants remain in the coastal Glynn County jail, in the custody of U.S. Marshals, pending sentencing on their federal convictions.
Because they were first charged and convicted of murder in state court, they will be turned over to the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve their life sentences in state prison.
Copeland unsuccessfully pushed for Travis McMichael to remain in federal custody, saying he had received hundreds of threats that he would be killed soon after arriving at the state prison and that his photo had been circulated there on illegal phones.
“I am concerned, your honor, that my client is facing a backdoor death sentence,” she said, adding that “retribution and revenge” are not sentencing factors, even for a defendant who is “publicly reviled.”
Arberry’s father, Marcus Arberry Sr., said Travis McMichael showed no mercy to his son and deserves to “rot” in state prison.
“You killed him because he was black and you hate black people,” he said. “You deserve no mercy.”
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Associated Press writer Sudhin Thanawala contributed to this story from Atlanta.
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