Travis McMichael

2022 - 8 - 8

Post cover — Image courtesy of "USA TODAY"

Georgia father, son sentenced to life for hate crimes in Ahmaud ... (USA TODAY)

The father and son who are serving life in prison for Ahmaud Arbery's murder were again sentenced to life in prison on federal hate crime charges.

He apologized to his wife and son and addressed the Arbery family's grief. A.J. Balbo expressed concerns about his client’s health and argued his sentencing shouldn’t exceed that of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd outside a convenience store. The McMichaels were denied any chance of parole in their life sentences. "I’m sure my words mean very little to you, but I want to assure you, I never wanted any of this to happen," he said. Gregory McMichael's attorney also asked for leniency in his sentencing and that he serve part of the sentences in federal prison, citing state facility conditions. Experts said the federal convictions in Arbery's death are not just symbolic. Prosecutors in the federal trial, which lasted a week, included evidence they said showed the men killed Arbery out of racial animus, such as racial slurs and repeated racist characterization of Black people who committed alleged crimes. His father, Gregory, who initiated the deadly pursuit of the jogger, will serve life in state prison plus seven years. Although hate crimes reports have risen in recent years, the offenses are rarely prosecuted. “I am concerned my client faces a backdoor death penalty,” she said. Prosecutors allege Johnson used her position to protect McMichael and his son. Travis McMichael, who fatally shot Arbery, will serve his federal sentence of life plus 10 years.

Gregory and Travis McMichael get second life sentences for federal ... (CNN)

Gregory and Travis McMichael, the White father and son convicted in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, were sentenced Monday to life in prison after their ...

Travis McMichael fears for his life in a state prison, Copeland said, telling the court his client had received "hundreds" of threats. The defense also argued Travis McMichael shot Arbery in self-defense as they wrestled over McMichael's shotgun. Prosecutors acknowledged Arbery had entered the home in the past, but he never took anything. She and other members of Arbery's family asked the judge to give Travis McMichael the maximum possible sentence under federal guidelines. "I didn't want to believe that, because me as a mother, I could never accompany my son to do any type of crime." The judge ruled both McMichaels did not have the funds to pay a fine.

Two in Arbery Case Sentenced Again to Life in Prison; Third Man ... (The New York Times)

The men were convicted of federal hate crimes after state murder convictions in 2021. Their lawyers tried without success to have part of their sentences ...

“The loss that you’ve endured is beyond description,” Gregory McMichael said to the Arbery family. Prosecutors noted, however, that Mr. Bryan had used his truck to block Mr. Arbery as he tried to run out of the neighborhood. Judge Wood said she had spent a long time thinking about the appropriate sentences for the men. Moments before the chase, Mr. Arbery had been inside a house under construction; the McMichaels had suspected him of committing a string of property crimes. Judge Wood said that the men would go to state prison first, because they were first prosecuted for murder by state authorities. Mr. Bryan was technically given 447 months, with 27 months off for time served. In announcing their investigation, federal officials said the safety problems in Georgia’s prison system had been compounded by staffing shortages, training issues and other factors. They had walked free for weeks after Travis McMichael shot Mr. Arbery at close range with a shotgun. The men were convicted of federal hate crimes after state murder convictions in 2021. Putting her client in state prison now, she said, would “effectively” result in “a back-door death penalty.” Travis McMichael declined to address the court. Travis McMichael, the 36-year-old who fired on Mr. Arbery with a shotgun, was given a life sentence.

Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael Sentenced to Second Life ... (The Wall Street Journal)

William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr. was sentenced to 35 years; the three Georgia men were convicted earlier this year of committing a federal hate crime.

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Federal Judge Sentences Three Men Convicted of Racially ... (Department of Justice)

A federal judge in the Southern District of Georgia today sentenced Travis McMichael, 36, to life plus 10 years in prison; and his father Gregory McMichael, ...

“It was important that this murder was prosecuted for what it was—a brutal and abhorrent racially-motivated hate crime,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. “Ahmaud Arbery should be alive today. When the police spoke to Bryan about Arbery’s death, he admitted that he had never seen or heard anything about Arbery before; when he saw a Black man being chased, his “instinct” told him that the man must be a thief, or maybe had shot someone. All three defendants were previously convicted in a separate state trial on felony murder charges and other offenses. All three defendants were convicted at trial in February 2022 on multiple counts, including one count of using violence to intimidate and interfere with Arbery because of his race and because he was using a public street. Ultimately, after Arbery had already changed direction multiple times, trying to escape from the defendants, Travis McMichael got out of his truck and pointed a shotgun directly at Arbery. When Arbery tried to defend himself, Travis McMichael shot him in the chest. All three defendants were also found guilty of attempting to kidnap Arbery by chasing after him in their trucks in an attempt to capture and confine him.

Father and son sentenced to life in prison, neighbor gets 35 years ... (NBC News)

The father and son convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery were both given an additional sentence of life in prison Monday on federal hate crime charges, ...

This month, Greg McMichael’s attorney asked the judge not to impose a life sentence, although he said his client still deserves “a substantial period of incarceration,” The Associated Press reported. “Protecting civil rights and combatting white supremacist violence was a founding purpose of the Justice Department, and one that we will continue to pursue with the urgency it demands.” Federal prosecutors worked to establish that Arbery’s murder was driven by the men’s strong prejudices against Black people. The case was then taken over by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The McMichaels and Bryan, who are all white, were found guilty in February on federal hate crime charges in the killing of Arbery, a Black man who was running in their neighborhood when the defendants confronted him in February 2020. A.J. Balbo, an attorney for Greg McMichael, told the judge he was medically "not fit" to serve his sentence in state prison. The men, who spotted Arbery running by their homes, cornered him, and Travis McMichael fatally shot him with a shotgun. He added that he “never wanted any of this to happen. They have appealed their convictions in that case. "By the time you serve your federal sentence, you will be close to 90 years old. "I’m sorry, I am, for what happened to him on that day. She added, however, that Bryan was “still deserving of an awfully long sentence."