GBI investigator: Witness heard man who killed Ahmaud Arbery use racial slur following shooting
GBI investigator tells judge Ahmaud Arbery was acting in self-defense on the day of his shooting death
Published: June 4, 2020, 1:45 pmUpdated: June 4, 2020, 2:15 pm
BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Three men charged in the February shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old man running through their neighborhood, faced a judge Thursday morning in Glynn County.
Defense attorneys requested the preliminary probable cause hearing, which compels prosecutors to prove whether they have probable cause to charge the men with murder.
Greg McMichael, 64, and his son, Travis McMichael, 34 -- are charged with felony murder and aggravated assault.
Travis McMichael with his attorney attend preliminary hearing by video conference. (WJXT)
The neighbor who filmed a video showing the shooting, 50-year-old William “Roddie” Bryan, was also arrested and charged with felony murder and illegally using a vehicle to try to confine and detain Arbery.
During his opening statement, state prosecutor Jesse Evans said Arbery “was chased, hunted down an ultimately executed, we believe the evidence will show based on what’s about to be presented to the court.”
A GBI investigator took the stand to start the hearing and described the evidence that has been collected in the case so far.
GBI Special Agent-in-Charge Richard Dial went through a descriptive timeline of the known events the led up to the death of Arbery at the hands of Travis McMichael, who fired three shots during a confrontation with Arbery, Dial said.
Among the details shared, Dial said that Bryan told investigators he overheard Travis McMichael use an expletive along with a racial slur to describe Arbery following the fatal shooting. Dial said he has also seen “many” other examples of Travis McMichael using the “n-word” on social media.
GBI Agent Richard Dial was the primary witness during preliminary hearing of defendants in Ahmaud Arbery's shooting death.
Lee Merritt, attorney for Arbery family, said Thursday said the new evidence should be instructive to the FBI investigation into Federal Hate Crime Charges.
“Testimony inadvertently put on record by Defense counsel for Travis McMichael established that his client was a well known violent racist who regularly used racial epithets and made terroristic threats to black people,” Merritt tweeted during the hearing.
Defense attorneys for both the McMichaels have said much remains unknown about what led to the shooting and have cautioned against rushing to judgment. An attorney for Bryan has said he was merely a witness to Arbery’s death.
One of the district attorneys who first handled the case against the McMichaels said there was no probable cause to charge either of them because the pair were protected under Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law.
Dial said a mix of video, witnesses statements and statements from the three men charged were used to determine the sequence of events that happened on Feb. 23.
On the day of the shooting, Dial said surveillance video showed Arbery walking around an open construction site in the Satilla Shores neighborhood where all three defendants lived. Arbery, who was described by friends and family as an avid runner, then left the construction site and started running down the street, Dial said.
That’s when he was spotted by Greg McMichael who was working in his front yard. Greg McMichael later told investigators he recognized Arbery from a previous video he had seen from February that showed somebody that was inside the house under construction. McMichael then alerted his son, Travis, and both grabbed guns and hopped in Travis’s white Ford F-150 to pursue Arbery.
The owner of the home under construction later told investigators nothing was stolen from the property.
Dial said Greg McMichael told investigators he didn’t know if Arbery had stolen anything or not that day “but his instinct told him he was the one responsible for thefts in the neighborhood.”
Greg McMichael armed himself with the Smith and Wesson 686 357 Magnum revolver, a gun that was issued to him by the Glynn County Police Department, and Travis McMichael armed himself with a Remington 870 pump, 12 gauge pump-action shotgun, Dial said. 
The McMichales told investigators they grabbed guns because they believed Arbery was armed.
Investigators found that Bryan later joined the pursuit and along with the McMichaels tried to repeatedly cut off Arbery, including when Arbery was trying to run out of the neighborhood.
Bryan and the McMichaels were eventually able to box Arbery in, Dial said, which led to the deadly confrontation. Dial said Travis McMichael fired three shots that hit Arbery twice in the chest and once in the wrist during a fight.
Cellphone video recorded by Bryan showed much of what happened second before Arbery collapsed on the road.
Thursday's preliminary hearing of Arbery murder defendants conducted while Travis McMichael (shown), Greg McMichael and William "Roddy" Bryan joining by video from jail due to coronavirus precautions. (WJXT)
The defense attorney for Travis McMichael brought up the mental state of Arbery when questioning Dial. Arbery had been diagnosed with a mental illness, Dial said, but he was not sure of the particular name of the diagnosis. He added that Arbery was not, at the time, under treatment for any mental illness.
Defense attorney Jason Sheffield said it’s relevant because it could mean the difference between self-defense and felony murder.
“I don’t believe it was self-defense for Mr. McMichael, I believe it was self-defense for Mr. Arbery,” Dial said. “I think Mr. Arbery was trying to get away, he couldn’t, so he chose to fight.”
Judge Harrell will make the determination of whether authorities have enough evidence for murder charges in Arbery’s killing to send the case to a trial.
A different judge will have to decide whether to allow the men to go free on bond.
Glynn County Sheriff Neal Jump said although the hearing is open to the public, seating will be limited, especially in light of COVID-19 social distancing policies,
according to The Brunswick News.
The McMichaels’ arrests came May 7, two days after cellphone video of the shooting leaked online and stirred a national outcry and the case was handed over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
This is the first time all three men will be in court together since their arrests.
As the hearing began, lawyers for both Travis and Greg McMichael made a motion to have their clients physically present in the courtroom for the hearing. The request was denied by Magistrate Judge Wallace E. Harrell.
Meanwhile, outside the courthouse, demonstrators gathered in the rain to call for “justice.”
It appeared to be nearly 100 people demanding that the case go to trial and that the judge not grant bond to Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael and Roddie Bryan.
Court security posted outside the building keeping an eye on the demonstration.
News4Jax spoke to some of the activists who said this case is about more than just what happened on Feb. 23.
“This has been happening for so long to young, black men. I couldn’t sit down,” said Irma Soto. “It just pulled on my heartstrings. There’s no justice and we just have to stand up and fight back if we expect a change.”
The protest in Brunswick comes as protests have been erupting across the country after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
The desire of the protesters outside the courthouse is for an eventual conviction of the McMichaels and of Bryan and many are calling for severe, even capital punishment.
