© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

What you need to know about the start of the trial in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery

Demonstrators march on June 4, 2020 in Brunswick, Ga., after a court appearance by Gregory and Travis McMichael, two suspects in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.
Sean Rayford
/
Getty Images
Demonstrators march on June 4, 2020 in Brunswick, Ga., after a court appearance by Gregory and Travis McMichael, two suspects in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.

Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of the three men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery in southeastern Georgia last year.

Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan — all of whom are white — are accused of killing Arbery, who was Black.

The Feb. 23, 2020 killing was one of several deaths last year that ignited a wave of racial justice protests across the U.S.

Here's what you need to know about the case:

Arbery was killed while jogging

A former high school athlete, Arbery loved to run, according to family members.

He was out for a jog when he encountered the three men charged with his murder, who chased him down in pickup trucks.

A painting of Ahmaud Arbery is displayed during a vigil at New Springfield Baptist Church on Feb. 23 in Waynesboro, Ga.
Sean Rayford / Getty Images
/
Getty Images
A painting of Ahmaud Arbery is displayed during a vigil at New Springfield Baptist Church on Feb. 23 in Waynesboro, Ga.

"Here we are in the South and we witnessed a lynching," Bobby Henderson, co-founder of the grassroots group A Better Glynn, told NPR. "How far are we from 1892? That's what's on the line."

The defendants say they believed Arbery was a thief

Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, said they thought Arbery might have been responsible for a series of burglaries in the residential neighborhood, but police never connected him to any.

In this image made from video, from left, father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, accused in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, listen via closed circuit TV in the Glynn County Detention center in Brunswick, Ga., on Nov. 12.
Lewis Levine / AP
/
AP
In this image made from video, from left, father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, accused in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, listen via closed circuit TV in the Glynn County Detention center in Brunswick, Ga., on Nov. 12.

As the McMichaels were trying to stop Arbery, a fight broke out in the road and Arbery was shot three times with a shotgun.

Bryan, a family friend, was present for the killing and captured it on video.

Robert Rubin, the attorney for Travis McMichael, said the men were simply trying to detain Arbery under Georgia's former citizen's arrest law and only resorted to violence when Arbery fought them and fought over possession of Travis McMichael's gun.

Georgia later repealed its citizen's arrest law, in part because of Arbery's death.

Prosecutors have charged the men with felony murder

All three men are facing a slew of charges in Georgia state court, including felony murder.

The Department of Justice has filed federal charges against the men including hate crimes, accusing them of targeting Arbery because of his race.

That trial is set to begin in February.

The investigation has been marred by conflicts

None of the men were charged immediately after Arbery's shooting and they remained free for about 10 weeks until the video footage captured by Bryan became public.

During the investigation, several prosecutors recused themselves from the case after potential conflicts arose and public pressure forced them to step aside.

Former district attorney Jackie Johnson, who was voted out of office in November, has since been charged with misconduct for interfering with police at the scene of the shooting. She has denied wrongdoing.

The charges came after Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into Johnson and another district attorney's handling of the case.

There were also questions about the Glynn County Police Department, which initially investigated Arbery's death. Gregory McMichael was an officer in the department in the 1980s and later worked as an investigator in the district attorney's office.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Joe Hernandez
[Copyright 2024 NPR]

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content
Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.