Men Charged With Killing Ahmaud Arbery Plead Not Guilty To Hate Crime
The three men who have been accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges.
NY Daily News reports that Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan appeared before a judge to enter their pleas for committing a hate crime. As we reported the trio is already facing federal murder charges for the case.
The three white men are accused of using force to intimidate and interfere with Arbery’s right to use a public street because of the color of his skin. He was just 25.
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The suspects claim they went after Arbery because he was burglarizing properties, however, there was no evidence to back this up.
Recently, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill to end a Civil War-era law allowing a citizens arrest.
“Ahmaud was the victim of a vigilante-style violence that has no place in our country or in our state,” Kemp said on Monday. “Today we are replacing a Civil War-era law ripe for abuse with language that balances the sacred right to self-defense of a person and property with our shared responsibility to root out injustice and set our state on a better path forward.”