The three white men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery while he was jogging in their neighborhood are trying to get their federal hate crime convictions overturned.
Attorneys for Travis McMichael; his father, Gregory McMichael; and their neighbor William Bryan argued before a three-judge federal appeals panel Wednesday that the men’s past racist comments did not prove a racist intent to harm Ahmaud Arbery, who was Black, which was crucial to their convictions in the first place. They also made arguments on legal technicalities, according to The Associated Press, including that the road Arbery was killed on was not technically a public road.
Hate crimes have historically been difficult to convict because prosecutors must prove in part that the alleged perpetrator was motivated by bias against a victim’s race, religion, sexual orientation or other characteristics.
Prosecutor Brant Levine urged the judges to uphold the convictions, saying, "Mr. Arbery would be alive today had he not been a Black man running on the streets of Satilla Shores."
The three men were found guilty by a federal jury in February 2022 of hate crimes and other charges in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Arbery after he went jogging in the neighborhood.
The McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison, and Bryan received a 35-year prison sentence. Even if the appeals court decides to overturn their federal convictions, the men would still serve life sentences behind bars; all three are serving life in prison on state murder charges, as well.