3 Men Charged in Ahmaud Arbery’s Death: Federal Hate Crimes Trial Begins

The federal hate crimes trial of the three Georgia men charged in connection with the death of Ahmaud Arbery is scheduled for Jury selection starts Monday. The Justice Department has charged Travis McMichael, Travis’s father Gregory McMichael, and the family’s neighbor William Bryan with hate crimes and attempted kidnapping of the 25-year-old, Arbery. The trial begins just after one month after the three men were sentenced to life in prison in a separate murder trial in Georgia.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who is the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice, stated: “The Justice Department takes seriously its obligation to confer with the Arbery family and their lawyers both pursuant to the Crime Victim Rights Act and out of respect for the victim. Before signing the proposed agreement reflecting the defendants’ confessions to federal hate crimes charges, the Civil Rights Division consulted with the victims’ attorneys. The Justice Department entered the plea agreement only after the victims’ attorneys informed me that the family was not opposed to it.”

Source: NPR