Was Arbery killing a hate crime? Jury to hear dueling views

Brunswick, Ga. (AP) — Before Ahmaud Arbery was chased by three white men in pickup trucks and fatally shot on a residential street, the trio had expressed hostility toward Black people in text messages and social media posts riddled with racist slurs. Does that history of bigoted remarks prove that Arbery was the victim of a hate crime?

A jury of eight white people, three Black people and one Hispanic person will hear dueling views Monday from prosecutors and defense attorneys as they present their closing arguments in U.S. District Court, where the hate crimes trial over Arbery’s death began a week ago.

It’s been nearly two years since the 25-year-old Arbery fell dead from two shotgun blasts on Feb. 23, 2020, after a five-minute chase through the Satilla Shores subdivision just outside the port city of Brunswick. The slaying was captured in a graphic cellphone video that sparked outrage far beyond Georgia. Basic facts of the case aren’t disputed.

Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and chased Arbery in a pickup truck after he was spotted running past their home on a Sunday afternoon. A neighbour, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded the video of Travis McMichael firing the fatal shots at point-blank range. The McMichaels and Bryan were all convicted of murder last fall in a Georgia state court.

The U.S. Justice Department charged them separately in federal court with hate crimes, alleging that all three men violated Arbery’s civil rights and targeted him because he’s Black. They are also charged with attempted kidnapping, and the McMichaels face counts of using guns in the commission of a crime. Regardless of the outcome of the hate crimes case, the McMichaels have been sentenced to life in prison without parole for their murder convictions. Bryan also received a life sentence, with parole possible only after he’s served at least 30 years. 

The federal hate crimes trial is all about whether racism motivated the pursuit and killing of Arbery. Legal experts have said that’s tougher to prove than the crime of murder.