By Rich McKay
(Reuters) – Federal prosecutors are expected to tell a jury on Monday why they have brought hate-crimes charges against three white men who were convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, in a mostly white neighborhood in Georgia in 2020.
A state court found Travis McMichael, 36, his father Gregory McMichael, 66, and neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, guilty of murder and other charges. All were sentenced to life in prison, with only Bryan given possibility of parole after 30 years.
Now they are on trial for federal hate-crimes charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
WHAT IS A FEDERAL HATE CRIME?
A federal hate crime is a criminal act committed based on race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and or gender identity.
GREGORY MCMICHAEL
* Interference with rights – a hate crime – specifically for “willfully, by force and threat of force, injure, intimidate and interfere with Ahmaud Arbery, an African American man, because of Arbery’s race and color.” The charge carries a maximum of life in prison.
* Attempted kidnapping, punishable by 20 years in prison.
* Brandishing a firearm, punishable by seven years in prison.
TRAVIS MCMICHAEL
* Interference with rights – a hate crime – specifically for “willfully, by force and threat of force, injure, intimidate and interfere with Ahmaud Arbery, an African American man, because of Arbery’s race and color.” The charge carries a maximum of life in prison.
* Attempted kidnapping, punishable by 20 years in prison.
* Brandishing and discharging a firearm, punishable by 10 years in prison.
WILLIAM “RODDIE” BRYAN
* Interference with rights – a hate crime – specifically for “willfully, by force and threat of force, injure, intimidate and interfere with Ahmaud Arbery, an African American man, because of Arbery’s race and color.” The charge carries a maximum of life in prison.
* Attempted kidnapping, punishable by 20 years in prison.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Alistair Bell)
