By Servet Gunerigok
WASHINGTON (AA) – Three men previously charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, have been charged with federal hate crimes and attempted kidnapping in connection with the case, the US Justice Department said Wednesday.
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia charged Travis McMichael, Travis’s father, Gregory McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. each with one count of interference of rights and one count of attempted kidnapping.
The indictment also charges Travis and Gregory McMichael with one count each of using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
"Counts One and Two of the indictment allege that the defendants used force and threats of force to intimidate and interfere with Arbery’s right to use a public street because of his race," said the department in a release.
In February 2020, Arbery was jogging in a residential area of Brunswick, Georgia when the father, a former police officer, and his son followed him down the street in a pickup truck and confronted him. Travis then shot Arbery.
Gregory and Travis McMichael claimed they suspected Arbery of being involved in neighborhood break-ins.
A video of the shooting emerged on social media and sparked an outcry in the state and nationwide. Protestors took to the streets of a Brunswick neighborhood to demand justice for Arbery.
