3 men involved in Ahmaud Arbery’s death charged with federal hate crimes

Ahmaud Arbery memorial.
(Image credit: Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Three Georgia men are facing federal hate crimes in connection with the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot and killed while jogging through a Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood last year.

The Justice Apartment announced Wednesday that Travis McMichael, his father Gregory, and William "Roddie" Bryan, all of whom are white, have been indicted with one count of interference with civil rights and one count of attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels, who claim they thought Arbery was a burglary suspect (local prosecutors say he stole nothing) and were acting in self defense when Travis shot Arbery, were also charged with using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The decision is the "most significant civil rights prosecution undertaken to date by the Biden administration's Justice Department," The Associated Press writes.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.