On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime while jogging in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia. Three white men, who later claimed to police that they assumed he was a burglar, pursued Arbery in their trucks for several minutes, using the vehicles to block his path as he tried to run away. Two of the men, Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, were armed in one vehicle. Their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, was in another vehicle. After overtaking Arbery, Travis exited his truck, pointing his weapon at Arbery. Arbery approached Travis and a physical altercation ensued, resulting in Travis fatally shooting Arbery. Bryan recorded this confrontation and Arbery's murder on his cell phone.
Members of the Glynn County Police Department (GCPD) arrived on the scene soon after the shooting; due to Gregory McMichael's background in civil service, the responding officer referred to him on a first-name basis and no questions as to the legality of the shooting nor the validity of self-defense claims were made. Arbery was still alive at the time officers arrived on the scene. No arrests were made for more than two months.
The GCPD said the Brunswick District Attorney's Office first advised them to make no arrests, then Waycross District Attorney George Barnhill twice advised the GCPD to make no arrests, once before he was officially assigned to the case, and once while announcing his intention to recuse himself due to a conflict of interest. At the behest of Gregory McMichael, a local attorney provided Bryan's video to local radio station WGIG, which published the video on May 5. The video went viral on YouTube and Twitter. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) arrested the McMichaels on May 7 and Bryan on May 21, charging them with felony murder and other crimes.
The case was ultimately transferred to the Cobb County District Attorney's Office. On June 24, 2020, a grand jury indicted each of the three men on charges of malice murder, felony murder, and other crimes. Their trial began in November 2021 in the Glynn County Superior Court; all three were convicted on November 24 of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Travis McMichael was further convicted of malice murder. On January 7, 2022, the McMichaels were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus 20 years, while Bryan was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years. On February 22, 2022, the three men were found guilty in a federal court of attempted kidnapping and the hate crime of interference with rights, while the McMichaels were also convicted of one count of using firearms during a crime of violence.
The local authorities' handling of the case resulted in nationwide criticism and debates on racial profiling in the United States. Many religious leaders, politicians, athletes, and other celebrities condemned the incident. Georgia attorney general Christopher M. Carr formally requested the intervention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the case on May 10, 2020, which was granted the following day. Former Brunswick district attorney Jackie Johnson was indicted in September 2021 for "showing favor and affection" to Gregory McMichael (her former subordinate) during the investigation, and for obstructing law enforcement by directing that Travis McMichael not be arrested. In the aftermath of the murder, Georgia enacted hate crimes legislation in June 2020, then repealed and replaced its citizen's arrest law in May 2021.
On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime while jogging in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia. Three white men, who later claimed to police that they assumed he was a burglar, pursued Arbery in their trucks for several minutes, using the vehicles to block his path as he tried to run away. Two of the men, Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, were armed in one vehicle. Their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, was in another vehicle. After overtaking Arbery, Travis exited his truck, pointing his weapon at Arbery. Arbery approached Travis and a physical altercation ensued, resulting in Travis fatally shooting Arbery. Bryan recorded this confrontation and Arbery's murder on his cell phone.
Members of the Glynn County Police Department (GCPD) arrived on the scene soon after the shooting; due to Gregory McMichael's background in civil service, the responding officer referred to him on a first-name basis and no questions as to the legality of the shooting nor the validity of self-defense claims were made. Arbery was still alive at the time officers arrived on the scene. No arrests were made for more than two months. The GCPD said the Brunswick District Attorney's Office first advised them to make no arrests, then Waycross District Attorney George Barnhill twice advised the GCPD to make no arrests, once before he was officially assigned to the case, and once while announcing his intention to recuse himself due to a conflict of interest. At the behest of Gregory McMichael, a local attorney provided Bryan's video to local radio station WGIG, which published the video on May 5. The video went viral on YouTube and Twitter. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) arrested the McMichaels on May 7 and Bryan on May 21, charging them with felony murder and other crimes.
The case was ultimately transferred to the Cobb County District Attorney's Office. On June 24, 2020, a grand jury indicted each of the three men on charges of malice murder, felony murder, and other crimes. Their trial began in November 2021 in the Glynn County Superior Court; all three were convicted on November 24 of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Travis McMichael was further convicted of malice murder. On January 7, 2022, the McMichaels were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus 20 years, while Bryan was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years. On February 22, 2022, the three men were found guilty in a federal court of attempted kidnapping and the hate crime of interference with rights, while the McMichaels were also convicted of one count of using firearms during a crime of violence.
The local authorities' handling of the case resulted in nationwide criticism and debates on racial profiling in the United States. Many religious leaders, politicians, athletes, and other celebrities condemned the incident. Georgia attorney general Christopher M. Carr formally requested the intervention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the case on May 10, 2020, which was granted the following day. Former Brunswick district attorney Jackie Johnson was indicted in September 2021 for "showing favor and affection" to Gregory McMichael (her former subordinate) during the investigation, and for obstructing law enforcement by directing that Travis McMichael not be arrested. In the aftermath of the murder, Georgia enacted hate crimes legislation in June 2020, then repealed and replaced its citizen's arrest law in May 2021.
People involved
Ahmaud Marquez Arbery (May 8, 1994 – February 23, 2020), nicknamed "Maud" or "Quez", was 25 at the time of his murder. He frequently ran for exercise, including regularly in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood close to the city of Brunswick, Georgia. Arbery lived in Fancy Bluff, a historically black neighborhood across the U.S. Route 17 highway from Satilla Shores, which was around two miles (3 km) away. He graduated from Brunswick High School in 2012, where he played football. He attended South Georgia Technical College during fall 2012 and spring 2013 to train for a career as an electrician. He paused his studies to save money by working in his father's car wash and landscaping business, and had plans to re-enroll.
Gregory Johns McMichael (born December 23, 1955), then 64, previously worked as a Glynn County Police Department (GCPD) officer from 1982 to 1989, and as an investigator for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office from 1995 to his retirement in May 2019. In 2018, McMichael helped in a shoplifting investigation involving Arbery. According to various news sources, Arbery had been caught shoplifting in a Walmart store which led to a subsequent revocation and extension of Arbery's probation. It is unknown whether McMichael remembered this when he encountered Arbery on the day of the shooting. The prosecution later said the charges had nothing to do with his murder.
Travis James McMichael (born January 18, 1986), then 34, was a U.S. Coast Guard mechanic between 2007 and 2016, and had some training in law enforcement. He is the son of Gregory McMichael.
William Roderick Bryan, Jr (born August 19, 1969), nicknamed "Roddie", then 50, was a neighbor of the McMichaels. Bryan was a mechanic and worked at a local hardware store in Brunswick according to posts on his social media.
Video of the murder
A video of the murder was recorded by Bryan using his cellphone from his vehicle as he followed Arbery jogging down the neighborhood road. The video showed Arbery jogging on the left side of the road when he encountered a white pickup truck, a thirteenth generation Ford F-150, that had stopped in the right lane. Gregory McMichael is standing in the truck bed, while Travis McMichael initially stands beside the driver's door with a shotgun. Bryan's vehicle comes to a stop behind Arbery and the pickup truck.
As Arbery approaches the pickup truck, shouting can be heard. Arbery then crosses from the left side of the road to the right side and runs around the passenger's side of the truck. After passing the truck's front, Arbery turns left. Meanwhile, Travis McMichael, holding his shotgun, approaches Arbery at the truck's front. The camera's view of the confrontation between Arbery and Travis is momentarily blocked.
Several media accounts of the video report that the audio of the first gunshot seems to be heard before Arbery and Travis struggle with each other. Some media accounts first report a struggle, and then mention the gunshot(s). Other media accounts describe that it was "not possible" to see from the video what was happening when the first gunshot was fired, or report that the truck "blocks the view of how the men first engage each other" with regard to when the gunshot is heard.
Travis and Arbery are seen to grapple over the shotgun. While struggling, both men disappear off camera view on the left side of the frame, after which the audio of a second gunshot is heard. When they reappear, Arbery throws punches and tries to grab the shotgun. A third gunshot is heard being fired by Travis at point-blank range as Arbery appears to throw a right-handed punch at his head. Arbery recoils, stumbles, and collapses face down in the middle of the road while Travis walks away. Gregory McMichael, who has taken out a handgun but has not fired, runs towards his son and Arbery.
Investigation by Glynn County Police
Prior thefts and trespassing incidents reported
In December 2019 and January 2020, residents of Satilla Shores reported three break-ins or thefts. On December 8, 2019, a Satilla Shores resident reported rifles stolen from the resident's unlocked car. Police recorded a theft on December 28, 2019. On January 1, 2020, Travis McMichael filed a report of a firearm stolen from his unlocked truck.
On February 11, 2020, Travis called 911 to report a slender six-foot-tall (1.83 m) black man with short hair, wearing red shorts and a white shirt, who was trespassing on the site of a house under construction. Travis said, "I've never seen this guy before in the neighborhood". The dispatcher asked whether Travis was OK, and he said, "Yeah, it just startled me. When I turned around and saw him and backed up, he reached into his pocket and ran into the house. So I don't know if he's armed or not. But he looked like he was acting like he was." "We've been having a lot of burglaries and break-ins around here lately", Travis said on the call. He told the dispatcher that he was out in his truck, and that as many as four neighbors were out looking for the man. His father Gregory was one of the people out searching that night, and Gregory and at least one other neighbor were armed. Police responded and searched the house along with a neighbor, but found no one. However, surveillance video from that evening showed a man who reportedly looked like Arbery, briefly walking in and out of the house under construction. He did not take anything. The under-construction house did not have doors or windows.
No evidence has emerged of Arbery committing burglaries or thefts in Satilla Shores.
Security cameras and 911 calls before the shooting
On February 23, in the minutes before the shooting, a security camera installed on a residence across the street from the house under construction, recorded a man identified by his family as Arbery walking down the road and into the house. A second security camera installed within the house recorded a man, identified as Arbery by his family, looking at the interior of the house. Approximately five minutes later, he left and began jogging down the street. After the man left the house, the first camera on the residence across the street showed a white pickup heading in the man's direction, followed a few minutes later by two police cars. The owner of the home under-construction later revealed that no crimes were committed on the property.
Two calls to the Glynn-Brunswick 911 dispatcher were made just before the shooting. In the first, a then-unidentified male caller said another man was in a house that was "under construction". The 911 dispatcher asked if the man was "breaking into it right now?" The caller replied: "No ... it's all open." After the caller said the man was now "running down the street", the dispatcher said police would respond. The dispatcher asked at 1:08 p.m., "I just need to know what he was doing wrong. Was he just on the premises and not supposed to be?" The caller responded, with some parts garbled, saying: "And he's been caught on camera a bunch at night. It's kind of an ongoing thing." The caller identified the man as a "black guy, white T-shirt". The first caller was later identified in court as neighbor Matthew Albenze.
In the second call, beginning at 1:14 p.m., a male caller said: "I'm out here at Satilla Shores ...There's a black male running down the street." The 911 dispatcher asked, "Where at Satilla Shores?" The caller replied: "I don't know what street we're on." The caller shouted, "Stop! ... Watch that. Stop, damn it! Stop!" The dispatcher tried to speak to the caller but did not receive a reply for several minutes. The caller later hung up. The second caller was later identified in court as Gregory McMichael.
Responding officer's report
The GCPD reached the scene immediately after the fatal shooting. The responding officer's report relied almost entirely on an interview with Gregory McMichael, who was described as a witness.
Gregory said he was in his yard when he saw an unidentified man running by. He said he recognized the man from a prior incident "the other night", when he said he saw the man reach into his pants as if for a weapon. He called to his son Travis and said, "The guy is running down the street; let's go". Gregory brought a .357 Magnumrevolver, while Travis brought a shotgun in their pickup truck. The McMichaels said they pursued the man because he resembled a suspect in a string of local burglaries. But the police said there had been only one recent theft from an unlocked car in the neighborhood.
Travis attempted to cut off the man with his truck. The man turned and began "running back in the direction from which he came". The report states that Bryan, who was erroneously identified as "Roddy [sic]", also tried to cut off the man, but failed. Gregory said he saw the unidentified man and yelled: "Stop, stop, we want to talk to you", and that they pulled up to the man, with Travis exiting the truck with the shotgun in hand. Gregory claimed the man "began to violently attack Travis" before two shots were fired. The man died at the scene after "bleeding out", the report concluded. Authorities later identified the man as Arbery.
Autopsy
The autopsy report released by the GBI ruled Arbery's death was a homicide caused by three gunshot wounds he sustained "during a struggle for the shotgun" that fired those shots. One gunshot wounded the upper left chest, one gunshot wounded the lower middle chest, and one gunshot caused a "deep, gaping" graze wound to the right wrist. There were no alcohol or drugs in Arbery's body, other than a "tiny amount" of THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis.
Case handling by prosecutors
Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney
The case started under the jurisdiction of Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson. Because Gregory McMichael had previously worked as an investigator in her office, Johnson recused herself from further involvement in the case. On February 27, 2020, the case was transferred by the Georgia Attorney General's Office to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney's office. The Waycross Judicial Circuit is south of Brunswick Judicial Circuit.
On March 8, two Glynn County commissioners, citing discussions with Glynn County police, accused Johnson, or her office, of preventing the McMichaels' immediate arrest. Commissioner Allen Booker said: "The police at the scene went to her, saying they were ready to arrest both of them. These were the police at the scene who had done the investigation. She shut them down to protect her friend [Gregory] McMichael." Commissioner Peter Murphy said that officers who responded at the scene had concluded that there was probable cause to make an arrest, but when they contacted Johnson's office, they "were told not to make the arrest."
Johnson's office said that Johnson did not "have any conversation with any GCPD officer about this case" on February 23, and that "no Assistant District Attorney in the office directed any Glynn County police officer not to make an arrest". Johnson's office also blamed the GCPD for being "unable to make a probable cause determination on its own" and argued that it was the local police's responsibility, not the District Attorney's responsibility, to make arrests. It is common for police to consult with the district attorney's office in the aftermath of homicides or other complex cases.
On May 9, the GCPD said that on February 23 the Brunswick District Attorney's Office "became involved in the investigation ... The McMichaels were deemed not to be flight risks and officers were advised by the [Brunswick District Attorney's Office] that no arrests were necessary at the time."
On February 28, 2022, it was reported that the state bar dismissed complaints filed by Georgia lawmakers against former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson and Waycross Judicial Circuit DA George Barnhill.