On Wednesday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a major update regarding the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. The publication reported that a grand jury had indicted all three individuals who were allegedly involved in Arbery’s murder — Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William Bryan. All three men are currently being held without bond in Glynn County jail in Georgia.
Both Travis and Greg were previously charged with felony murder in the death of Arbery, an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed in February. Now, with Wednesday’s indictment, all three of the defendants have been charged with nine counts — malice murder, felony murder (four counts), aggravated assault (two counts), false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes, the prosecutor in this case, announced the news of this indictment on Wednesday morning in front of the Glynn courthouse. Outside of the courthouse, Holmes reportedly said that Arbery’s family was “ecstatic to hear that it happened this morning.” This update in the case comes nearly four months after Arbery was killed on Feb. 23 while he was out for a jog. There was renewed interest in the case after footage of the incident went public.
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Travis and Greg both admitted to grabbing guns and chasing Arbery, and they claimed they thought that he was a suspect in a string of robberies in their neighborhood. According to CNN, the McMichaels’ claimed that Arbery attacked Travis, which prompted them to open fire. Both men were arrested on May 7 for murder and aggravated assault. Bryan, who filmed the footage of this incident, has also since been arrested. A statement from an attorney for Arbery’s family claimed that Bryan “blocked Ahmaud with his truck and allowed two other men to ambush and kill him.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also reported that prosecutors said that Bryan did engage in the pursuit of Arbery along with Travis and Greg.
While the arrests of Travis and Greg did appease Arbery’s family, they were still unhappy about the fact that it took so long (nearly two months) for authorities to take action. Ben Crump, an attorney for the family, told the Associated Press at the time, “They did not arrest the killers of Ahmaud Arbery because they saw the video. They arrested the killers of Ahmaud Arbery because we saw the video, the public saw the video, and it went viral. It was shocking. People were astonished.”
