Gregory Johns McMichael, Travis James McMichael
This photo combo of images taken Thursday, May 7, 2020, and provided by the Glynn County Detention Center, in Georgia, show Gregory McMichael, left, and his son Travis McMichael. The two have been charged with murder in the February shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. (Glynn County Detention Center via AP)
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From the Associated Press . . .

A Georgia judge is scheduled to consider bond requests by a father and son jailed on murder charges in the February shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.

Gregory McMichael and his adult son, Travis McMichael, were to appear Thursday morning before Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley. They also have asked the judge to reject two of the counts against them, including malice murder, saying they were charged in a legally flawed indictment.

The McMichaels have been jailed since their arrests in May, more than two months after Arbery was slain. The McMichaels, who are white, chased and fatally shot the 25-year-old black man after they spotted him running in their neighborhood just outside the port city of Brunswick.

The killing stirred a national outcry in a year marked by protests over racial injustice. An investigator testified previously that a third defendant, who took cellphone video of the shooting, heard Travis McMichael, 34, utter a racial slur after he blasted Arbery three times with a shotgun.

Defense attorneys for the McMichaels have denied any racist motives in the shooting. Right after the Feb. 23 shooting, Gregory McMichael told police that he and his son armed themselves and got in a pickup truck to pursue Arbery because they suspected he was a burglar.

They weren’t arrested until the cellphone video of the shooting leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case. Prosecutors say Arbery was merely out jogging.

The video shows the truck stopping in the middle of a residential street and Travis McMichael getting out before Arbery tries to run around the vehicle. Arbery can be seen grappling with Travis McMichael over the shotgun and punching him before being shot at point-blank range.

In June, a grand jury indicted both McMichaels and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

William “Roddie” Bryan
William “Roddie” Bryan

Travis McMichael’s attorneys, Robert Rubin and Jason Sheffield, wrote in court documents requesting bond that he lives with his parents, has a 3-year-old son and doesn’t have a passport. They cited his past service as a U.S. Coast Guard machine technician as proof of his character.

“In no way, shape or form is Travis hateful towards any group of people, nor does he look down on anyone based on race, religion or beliefs,” Curt Hall, a former Coast Guard roommate of Travis McMichael who described himself as “multiracial,” wrote in a letter supporting bond for his friend.

Gregory McMichael, 64, is a retired investigator for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit district attorney’s office and a former Glynn County police officer. His lawyers said in a legal filing that they plan to present evidence in court to show why he should be freed on bond.

The McMichaels’ attorneys are also asking the judge to reject the indictment’s malice murder charge, saying it was written in a way that improperly “charges two crimes in one count.” They made a similar argument for tossing out a charge of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

Bryan was previously denied bond. His attorney has argued in court motions that the entire indictment should be dismissed.

The outside prosecutor assigned to the case, Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes, was defeated in the Nov. 3 election. Holmes’ successor, Flynn Broady, will inherit the case, said Katie Byrd, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Chris Carr.

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56 COMMENTS

      • The BLM raised fist symbol has been a symbol of Communism as far back as 1920, maybe earlier.
        Don’t flatter Obama, there have been Commie subversives for over 100 years.

        Do the BLM folks understand that they’re being played?
        I’m not sure, but when I run across them, I do try to warn them about the history.

        Unfortunately, some are all too aware.

        • Without a doubt. But the particular organization BLM was founded after Micheal Brown got his dumbass shot and Obama was the president.

      • And they were fading into obscurity until these winners pulled that stunt. It merged into the George Floyd riots thereafter.

        • BLM would have done the same thing they did in 2016 regardless of these two assholes. If not these two assholes, it would have been someone else. Anyone who kills a black person for that matter, now. It was inevitable, because we let them exist.

      • You are correct, and that racist history is exactly what fuels BLM and other groups calling for racial justice.

        It didn’t end in the 1950s as the case before shows, young black men are still being murdered routinely in Georgia and other states.

        And to pretend the violent racism against young black men doesn’t exist in the United States today is a denial of reality that borders on racism itself.

    • Maybe we want to have a trial and present some evidence and figure who did what wrong before we rush off and execute people. Even then I am not in favor of the state killing anyone because we have seen time and time again that they imprison and kill the wrong people.

  1. That report was full of lies and falsehoods. Arbery wasn’t jogging, he was fleeing the scene of a crime. He got his own dumbass shot in self defense when he attacked a man with a gun.

    Blacks kill way more blacks than cops and concerned neighbors do.

    • When people say the video proves murder I honestly feel like I must be watching a different one. Even without context I see a dude attacking the guys in the truck and getting shot for that decision. *With* context I see a thief who decided to escalate after being spotted.

      • Lord, deliver me from the uninformed!

        You are watching an edited video, which was provided by rowdy Roddy.

        Roddy wisely edited out the part where he hit Arberry with his truck in order to corral him towards the McMichaels, before releasing the video on Facebook.

        These racists had almost gotten away with murder, until Roddy released this video.

        • Mmm-kay… If that were true then why is this always the exact video posted as the evidence when the story comes up?

          Point being that if they wanted to paint the killers as murderers, this ain’t doing it.

      • I see two guys with guns far from their property taking the law into their own hands. This is what happens when you decide to apprehend someone you think stole from you instead of calling police.

        They couldn’t even do it right. Clearly too stupid to own guns and be among us. If they just let him run away they wouldn’t be in jail. Sure they might lose a say or a drill but how much is this incident going to cost them even if they beat the charges. It’s hard to believe either of them had any training for this mission.

        But hey, they get to tell their buddies how bad ass they were and how no one steals from them and lives to tell about it.

        • There was nothing stolen, no saw, no drill, nothing.

          The younger McMichaels had claimed someone stole a pistol from his truck glove compartment weeks before. Think about that, what idiot would leave a firearm in his unattended vehicle overnight?

          In any case, no theft, no stolen goods found on Arbery.

          All three of the perpetrators will go to prison for murder, responsible gun owners to the very end.

      • Ordinarily when someone is as dumb as you are, I just ignore them figuring they just are incurably clueless.
        Was this thief running with copper pipes he stole? How long after a theft can you menace a person with a firearm? If I stroll over to the bar and pull a gun on a guy who I saw trespassing earlier, totally cool right?
        Or more to the po, if someone pointed a gun at you because you walked on their yard earlier, would you have the right to defend yourself? Or would you say that since he walked around a construction site it is ok to just hunt him down?

    • The truth came out in court many months ago. The story white supremacists and race baiters told you was a false narrative to spark riots. You are being willfully ignorant. You should go watch the hearings.

      The McMichaels are indeed white supremacists, Trump supporters, confederate flag wavers, blue and all lives matter groupies and murderers. Their friends are the same type of people.

      • Correct.

        When someone tells you that there is no more racism in America because we elected a black president or a black vice president, just provide the details of this case for their contemplation.

        And the fact that it took months and the accidental assistance of the actual perpetrator to bring this case to the public’s attention is a sad indictment of the judicial and law-enforcement system in America.

        The fact that there was no justice for Arbery was one of the driving factors to start the current BLM protest, but his death is just one of many, Castile, Rice, etc.

  2. While I’m at it… if my beard looked like either of those… I’d save the State the trouble, and do it myself.

  3. Was the victi a “jogger”? Or a criminal fleeing the scenne of his crime?
    Was the “victim” shot by the shotgun or the other guy at truck door with the pistol?

    If the victim tried to grab the shotgun from it’s owner, said victim may well have caused the shotgun to fire upon himself.

    We need more facts.

    • The facts are out, all the video has been seen and that’s why they’re being charged with murder.

      I realize it’s much more fun to post opinions without actually researching the story but a little research could save you much embarrassment

  4. Arbery ran toward the two men who were armed and attempted to wrest the weapon away from the man. Arbery could have run off in any direction. He was not being pursued…
    Arbery contributed to his own demise.
    The two white men are being “railroaded”…

    • He was being pursued as they were trying to stop him because they thought he was a burglar. I highly doubt that any of the men who were actively trying to stop him would have let him run away.

    • “Arbery could have run off in any direction. He was not being pursued…”

      Clearly, you are a racist liar.

      One of the 10 Commandments states ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness’, do you consider yourself a Christian?

      You do realize of course, the police and the prosecutors’ investigators have recovered all of the video from Roddy’s computer, including the part he edited out, where he hit Arbery with his truck forcing him toward the McMichaels.

      I bet you fly a confederate flag, don’t you… Loser.

      • Listen up dumbass, I do fly a battleflag of the Confederate American Nation. With the evidence I have seen, these two do belong in prison. But I will wait until all the facts come out to put them there. Now, how about you keep your progressive Yankee propaganda to yourself.

        • “I do fly a battleflag of the Confederate American Nation.”

          What kind of doublespeak hogwash are you deluding yourself with?

          The confederate states of America were traitors to the United States Constitution, they attempted to destroy the union because the CSA wanted to perpetuate the enslavement of their fellow humans.

          The confederate states of America failed miserably in their attempt to destroy the United States of America, Robert E Lee failed as a tactician.

          Go ahead and fly your second-place loser flag, it just helps good folk identify one who supports slavery.

  5. As I recall it was their neighbor, who was with them, that videotape the event? He then “posted it” on Social Media??? Not sure but IF that is true these are three of the Dumbest Block Heads on the Planet which means they must be Democrats!

    As usual the Truth means Nothing to the Media or the Democrat Party as has happened in almost ALL of these shootings when some Negro is shot by a white Policeman or White Citizen! For the record: Black Males represent 8% of Our Population and Commit 44% of the Crime…..Go figure!

    No matter what, it gives the Negroes an “Imagined Right” to riot, steal, destroy public and private property…..this must end one way or another.

  6. A no bail system (no bail required to assure appearance in court) would be attractive if the court would issue a “Shoot On Site” order for people who do not show up for trial.

  7. ““In no way, shape or form is Travis hateful towards any group of people, nor does he look down on anyone based on race, religion or beliefs…”

    That may be true. Still a murderer*.

    *manslaughterer doesn’t have the same ring to it even if it might be the more appropriate charge

    • Manslaughter requires the person who was killed to have caused their own death by committing an act they weren’t allowed to do, then was killed unnecessarily.

      Ahmaud had a right to self defense. Because he is black doesn’t mean he can’t fight three armed white men. Being black in a white racist neighborhood isn’t a felony crime nor is trespassing.

  8. I look forward to hearing them explain in court, why they chased and shot an unarmed man. Yes he was a trespasser. He also was empty handed.

    If they had shot him on the property this would not be an issue.

    Also the DA and the LEO training and certification office have some explaining to do in court, under oath as well.

  9. Stand your ground applies to those without guns too. If an asshat chased you in a pickup, got out and confronted you with a shotgun, you do have the right to defend yourself.

    One of many problems with stand your ground — presumption is good guy vs bad. But we’ve seen too many suspicious asshats confront good guys for no good legal reason.

      • It would appear they certainly were entitled to file an absentee ballot as they have not been convicted at this point.

        If so, I’d wager all three voted for Typhoid Trump, hoping for a pardon.

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