Georgia prosecutors want to use 'racist' Facebook posts and text messages that contained 'a ton of filth including the N word' as evidence against three men charged in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery
Georgia prosecutors want to use 'racial' Facebook posts and text messages that contain 'a ton of filth including the N word' as evidence against three men charged in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
Court documents filed by prosecutors in Glynn County on Friday say Gregory and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr each shared 'racial' material.
They want to use the messages and posts as 'proof of motive', The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
The McMichaels have been jailed since they were arrested on murder charges in May, more than two months after 25-year-old Arbery was fatally shot while running in their neighborhood outside of Brunswick. Bryan Jr, who shot the video, was also charged with murder after joining the pursuit.
Travis McMichael is said to have a shared a 'racial highway video Facebook post,' 'a racial Johnny Rebel Facebook post' and a racial text message in 2019.
His father Gregory reportedly shared an 'Identity Dixie Facebook post' and 'Racial Johnny Rebel Facebook post'.
Bryan Jr is said to have sent 'racial messages extracted from cell phone'. In July prosecutor Jesse Evans said he repeatedly used the n-word in messages containing 'a ton of filth'.
Court documents filed by prosecutors in Glynn County on Friday say Gregory and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr each shared 'racial' material
Arbery was fatally shot while running in their neighborhood outside of Brunswick
Last month attorneys for the McMichaels said their clients weren't motivated by race when they armed themselves, chased after the young black man and shot him in the street after a confrontation.
No trial date has been set amid the pandemic and all three men remain in jail.
Cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times at close range with a shotgun further fueled a national outcry over racial injustice.
Last month attorneys for the McMichaels said their clients weren't motivated by race when they armed themselves, chased after the young black man and shot him in the street after a confrontation
Preliminary hearing for father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, and William Bryan Jr, on murder and aggravated assault charges relating to the shooting death of an unarmed black man, Ahmaud Arbery, is pictured
During a preliminary court hearing in June, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Richard Dial testified that a third man charged in Arbery's killing told police he overheard Travis McMichael utter a racist slur as he stood over the body right after the shooting. Rubin said he believes Bryan Jr. made up the account of the slur in hopes of cutting a deal with investigators
Gregory McMichael told police after the shooting that he and his son pursued Arbery because they suspected him of being a burglar.
'This case is not about race,' Bob Rubin, one of Travis McMichael's defense attorneys, told The Atlanta Journal Constitution in a story in September. 'Mr. Arbery was not targeted because he was black.'
Travis McMichael grabbed a shotgun and his father armed himself with a handgun when they saw Arbery run past their home February 23.
The men pursued Arbery in a pickup truck. They stopped in the road in front of Arbery, who kept running until he came face-to-face with Travis McMichael. The video shows Arbery punching and trying to grab the gun before he's shot.
Authorities have said there's no evidence Arbery stole from the construction site or that he committed any other crimes. An attorney for the homeowner has said it's possible Arbery stopped at the site for water while he was jogging.
The men pursued Arbery in a pickup truck. They stopped in the road in front of Arbery, who kept running until he came face-to-face with Travis McMichael. The video shows Arbery punching and trying to grab the gun before he's shot
Cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times at close range with a shotgun further fueled a national outcry over racial injustice
During a preliminary court hearing in June, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Richard Dial testified that a third man charged in Arbery's killing told police he overheard Travis McMichael utter a racist slur as he stood over the body right after the shooting.
Rubin said he believes Bryan Jr. made up the account of the slur in hopes of cutting a deal with investigators.
'You could feel the world gasping' when the investigator in court first accused Travis McMichael of using the slur, Rubin said. 'We gasped. But when you look at what's actually happening it can't be true and I don't think it's true.'
No comments