The three white men serving hefty prison sentences for killing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 have asked a court to reverse their federal hate crime convictions.
According to the Associated Press, in legal briefs filed by attorneys for Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan, the two men denied that their heinous actions were motivated by race.
Meanwhile, McMichael’s son, Travis McMichael, did not make any effort to challenge whether racism played a role in Arbery’s death in his appeal.
What does the appeal say?
On appeal, Bryan and the elder McMichael objected to whether federal prosecutors proved their case and successfully argued that the two men murdered Arbery based on race, according to CNN.
Defense Attorney J. Pete Theodocion filed a legal brief on behalf of Bryan and wrote, “The evidence against Bryan did not present a man who saw the world through a prism of racism.”
He asserted that Bryan “was not obsessed” with Black Americans, unlike co-defendant Travis.
Theodocion said there is insufficient evidence “to suggest Bryan would have acted any differently on the day in question had Arbery been white, Hispanic, Asian or other.”
The lawyer doubled down and argued that not every crime that is committed against a Black American is a hate crime.
He added, “Every crime committed against an African American by a man who has used racist language in the past is not a hate crime.”
As for Travis’ appeal, he wants his attempted kidnapping and weapons use charges convictions to be overturned.
What happened?
On Feb. 23, 2020, Arbery was jogging through a Brunswick, Georgia neighborhood when both McMichaels and Bryan stalked him.
The three falsely believed that Arbery was responsible for a string of break-ins that had taken place in the neighborhood.
The McMichaels hunted him down in their trucks with firearms while Bryan tagged…
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