In this May 17, 2020, photo, a recently painted mural of Ahmaud Arbery is on display in Brunswick, Ga., where the 25-year-old man was shot and killed in February. It was painted by Miami artist Marvin Weeks. (AP Photo/Sarah Blake Morgan)
By Kate Brumback
A prosecutor on Wednesday announced that three men have been indicted on murder charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in coastal Georgia.
Speaking to reporters outside the Glynn County courthouse, prosecutor Joyette Holmes said a grand jury has indicted Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. on charges including malice and felony murder in the death of the African American man.
"This is another positive step, another great step for finding justice for Ahmaud, for finding justice for this family and the community beyond," Holmes said during the news conference, which was streamed online by news outlets.
Lawyers for the McMichaels have cautioned against a rush to judgment and have said the full story will come out in court. A lawyer for Bryan has maintained that his client was merely a witness.
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. (Glynn County Detention Center via AP)
Arbery was slain Feb. 23 when the Greg and Travis McMichael, a white father and son, armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old Black man running in their neighborhood. Greg McMichael told police he suspected Arbery was a burglar and that Arbery attacked his son before being shot.
Bryan lives in the same subdivision, just outside the port city of Brunswick. Bryan said he saw the McMichaels driving by and joined the chase, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent testified earlier this month.
It wasn't until May 7 -- two days after Bryan's cellphone video leaked online and stirred a national outcry -- that the McMichaels were arrested. Bryan was arrested on May 22, and an arrest warrant said he tried "to confine and detain" Arbery without legal authority by "utilizing his vehicle on multiple occasions" before Arbery was shot.
In addition to malice murder and felony murder charges, the McMichaels and Bryan each are charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count each of false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Court functions in Georgia have been severely limited in recent months because of a statewide judicial emergency declared by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Holmes said they were able to call in a grand jury that had been impaneled prior to the judicial emergency. They followed public guidelines, providing hand sanitizer to the grand jurors and allowing them to sit far apart, she said.
Because of the uncertainty caused by the virus, the Arbery family didn't know when the next steps would be taken after a probable cause hearing held earlier this month, Holmes said. But they were notified as soon as the grand jury returned an indictment, she said.
"The family was ecstatic to hear that it had happened this morning," she said.
Bob Rubin, a lawyer for Travis McMichael, said in an email that prosecutors choose the facts they want to present to a grand jury when seeking an indictment. The defense team has found other facts "that are an integral part of the case," he wrote.
"To this indictment, Travis McMichael will plead not guilty, and we look forward to presenting all of the facts regarding this tragic death in a court of law," Rubin wrote.
Attorney Kevin Gough, who represents Bryan, spoke to reporters at the county courthouse right after Holmes announced the indictment.
"We welcome the action of the grand jury today,' Gough said. "While we disagree with it, it's an important step in the process to moving this case closer to the speedy trial that Roddie has demanded."
He said his client has committed no crime and has cooperated with law enforcement officers from the beginning.
Lawyers for Greg McMichael did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Kimberly Paige at TV network BET joined Cheddar News to talk about leadership, the projects she was pivotal in building, and her approach to leadership and "inviting" diverse audiences rather than "targeting" them. "if you think about when someone says, 'I'm targeting you,' you're generally in someone's kind of crosshairs, if you will," she said. "And so I use the notion of who are we inviting to participate in the brand in a meaningful way. I think it's a nuance, but it has huge implications."
Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter joined Cheddar News to talk about fatherhood and his solo work on a new crossover song called "Easy," featuring country singer Jimmie Allen. "What I love about country music is the lyrics, the melodies, the stories that are in them as well," he said. "And you know, you hear it's just pretty simple and pretty easy."
Oscar Stembridge, the youngest musician to have signed with Universal Music Sweden, has a passion for spreading awareness of climate activism as well as music. Cheddar News got an exclusive first look at the video for the new song, "Am I the Only One" and spoke with the 14-year-old singer about his young career and advocacy work. "Basically it all kind of started when, inspired from Greta Thunberg, I wrote my first kind of song called 'We March,' which is about my generation not wanting to pay the price of the older generations' inaction," he said.
The office real estate market might be in trouble, as vacancy rates in major cities remain across the country, even as COVID restrictions continue to fall away. Ryan Severino, the chief economist for real estate and investment management firm JLL, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the latest office trends and why some may be concerning for the broader economy. "There are knock-on ramifications for a lot of the ancillary industries that support office workers," he said. "If you think about coffee shops, places that someone might go out to get lunch or a drink or dinner after work, those are obviously still feeling the brunt of people not being physically back in office spaces the way that they were before the pandemic."
More Covid booster shots for more adults, Greenpeace and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen want more eco-friendly bitcoin, and the federal mask mandate for transportation is challenged. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Wednesday, March 30, 2022.
According to tracking services, Americans get inundated with more than 130 million robocalls every day. One man decided that he had enough and started suing telemarketers. Daniel Graham joins Cheddar News to share how he won more than $100,000 in settlements.
Streaming giant Netflix has thrown its hat into the ring with some video game offerings of its own so far, but the hurdles to gaining market share in the space might be daunting despite recently acquiring its third game development studio. Kenny Rosenblatt, the president and co-founder of casual game maker Arkadium, joined Cheddar to offer his view of where things are headed for Netflix. "Microsoft entered the video game market in 1990, years ago with 'Windows Solitaire. It has taken them that long to become the player that they are today," he said. "So I like what Netflix is doing. Slow and steady wins the race."
