One of the Georgia men who shot Ahmaud Arbery used a racist slur after pulling the trigger, according to another one of the suspects.
The three men who have been arrested in Arbery’s death were present in court on Thursday to ask to be released on bond while they await their trial. During the hearing, an investigator from the case testified that William “Roddie” Bryan, the man who filmed the shooting, alleged that Travis McMichael used a racist slur after shooting Arbery.
Richard Dial, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation assistant special agent in charge of the case, said that Bryan told his team that McMichael shouted the slur after Arbery was shot but before police arrived on the scene.
According to police, Arbery died after being shot twice by McMichael and his father, George McMichael, while on a jog in February. Bryan filmed the shooting after briefly following Arbery in his vehicle until he was confronted by the McMichaels. The McMichaels said they acted in self-defense after Arbery reached for Travis’s gun while he attempted to make a citizen’s arrest because they believed he was responsible for a string of burglaries in the area.
The two men were not charged until after the video of Arbery’s death was leaked by an attorney in May. The two were then arrested and charged with felony counts of murder and criminal attempt of false imprisonment. Bryan was later arrested on the same charges for filming the incident.
Arbery’s death has contributed to fueling protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the death of George Floyd in May. Floyd died after being arrested by an officer who knelt on his neck for several minutes. The officer filmed kneeling on Floyd was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
