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Three Georgia Men Charged With Hate Crimes In Death Of Ahmaud Arbery

Screenshot via Twitter/CBSEveningNews

Michael Ginsberg Congressional Correspondent
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Three Georgia men were charged Wednesday with violating federal hate crime laws in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.

Travis and Gregory McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan were each charged with one count of interference of rights and one count of attempted kidnapping, the Justice Department announced. Both McMichaels were charged with one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Travis McMichael was also charged with discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

All three men were indicted by a Georgia grand jury for murder in Arbery’s death in June 2020, after a special prosecutor and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case. Gregory McMichael was formerly an investigator for the Brunswick, Georgia’s District Attorney’s office, creating a conflict of interest.

The federal indictment alleges that the three men “willfully, by force and threat of force, injure, intimidate, and interfere with Ahmaud Arbery, an African American man, because of Arbery’s race and color, and because he was and had been enjoying a facility provided and administered by a state and subdivision thereof.” (RELATED: Justice Department Considering Whether To Pursue Hate Crime Charges In Ahmaud Arbery Murder Case)

Arbery’s death, on Feb. 23, 2020 while he was running through his neighborhood, was caught on video taken by Bryan. The video showed Arbery cut off by a pickup truck, chased, and then shot.

Bryan’s attorney argued that he was a bystander and was not involved in the shooting.