Ahmaud Arbery’s parents spoke out after Travis McMichael received a second life sentence in his federal hate crime case.
Travis was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood in Brunswick, Georgia, on Monday (August 8), which marked Georgia’s first federal hate crime ruling.
Travis McMichael, his father, Greg McMichael, and his neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, all received life sentences in January, on the state level, by a state Superior Court judge for the roles they played in Ahmaud Arbery’s death.
On February 23, 2020, the McMichaels got in their pickup truck and chased Ahmaud with guns as he jogged passed their home.
Their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase in his pickup truck.
He helped cut off Ahmaud’s escape, and Roddie recorded a video of Travis McMichael shooting Ahmaud three times, at close range.
They told the police they suspected Ahmaud of stealing from a nearby house that was under construction. The police investigation concluded that Ahmaud was unarmed and committed no crimes.
Since Travis and Greg McMichael were first convicted of murder in a state court, according to protocol, they would be turned over to the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve their life sentences in state prison.
Travis and Greg McMichael dared to ask the judge, in a court filing last week, to divert them to federal prison because they won’t be safe in a Georgia prison system that’s the subject of a U.S. Justice Department investigation focused on violence between inmates.
The judge rejected their request.
All three defendants have remained jailed in coastal Glynn County, in the custody of U.S. marshals, since January while awaiting their federal sentencing.
Watch Ahmaud’s father and aunt react to the federal prison request in the news report below:
Ahmaud’s father, Marcus Arbery, expressed, outside of the courtroom, how hard it was to look at his son’s killers during the trial, and how they showed no remorse for taking his son’s life.
He said he only saw “racial hate” in Travis, and he was bothered by them asking for mercy because they showed no mercy on his son on that tragic day.
Ahmaud’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, added that Ahmaud was shot three times and she feels those shots every day, and she stated the fact that Travis chose not to even say he was sorry to her family shows what kind of person he is.
Watch Ahmaud’s parents react to Travis McMichael’s second life sentence in the news reports below:
Travis McMichael will serve two life sentences, back-to-back.
Greg McMichael and William “Roddy” Bryan’s sentencing hearings are scheduled for later today.
We pray that God continues to comfort Ahmaud Arbery’s parents in their grief.
Your thoughts?
Source: NPR
