Along with Travis McMichael (left), William ‘Roddie’ Bryan and Gregory McMichael are set to be sentenced on federal charges for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery
Federal judge gives father and son life for hate crime; their neighbour and co-defendant sentenced to 35 years.
US District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also sentenced the two men’s neighbour and co-defendant William “Roddie” Bryan to 35 years in the coastal Georgia city of Brunswick on Monday. All three were found guilty of violating Arbery’s civil rights because of his race earlier this year.
The case had helped fuel mass protests against racism and vigilantism in the United States in 2020.
At the first hearing, Marcus Arbery, the slain man’s father, asked the judge to sentence the younger McMichael to serve the maximum in state prison on the federal charges.
“These three devils have broken my heart into pieces that cannot be found or repaired,” Marcus Arbery told the court.
Travis McMichael declined to testify on Monday, but his lawyer said a Georgia state prison was too dangerous for him, and that he had received death threats.
Wood, the judge, said McMichael had received a “fair trial”.
“And it’s not lost on the court that it was the kind of trial that Ahmaud Arbery did not receive before he was shot and killed,” the judge said.
The McMichaels armed themselves with guns and jumped in a truck to chase Arbery after spotting him running past their home outside Brunswick on February 23, 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own truck, helping cut off Arbery’s escape. He also recorded a phone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range as Arbery threw punches and grabbed at the shotgun.
Greg McMichael addressed the Arbery family on Monday, saying their loss was “beyond description.
