Travis McMichael, one of three defendants charged in Ahmaud Arbery’s shooting and death, said on Wednesday that he acted in self-defense while wrestling with Arbery over McMichael’s shotgun.
Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael, and their next-door neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. are charged with malice and felony murder in the slaying of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was chased by the trio on February 23, 2020, in a community near Brunswick, Georgia.
Bryan’s mobile phone footage recorded the younger McMichael shooting and killing Arbery. Each of the accused has entered a not guilty plea.
Until the cell phone video of the shooting was made public, no charges were filed against the three men. Because of conflicts of interest, the first two prosecutors in charge of the case recused themselves, citing Gregory McMichael’s previous employment as an investigator.
According to Arbery’s family, he had gone out for a jog when he was fatally shot. The McMichaels were attempting a valid citizen’s arrest, according to defense attorneys, and Bryan cut him off with his car, recording footage of the chase and shooting.
The defendants are also charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit a felony, in addition to malice and felony murder. All of the defendants have entered a not guilty plea. Each man faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole if convicted.
During the trial, Travis McMichael testified that he observed someone “creeping in the shadows” in the neighborhood on the evening of February 11, 2020, approximately two weeks before Arbery was shot.
He said that the individual, who he later identified as a Black male, pulled up his shirt and reached for his “pocket, waistline area.”
Travis McMichael claimed he feared that the individual was armed so he ran to his car as the person ran to a neighboring unfinished property.
McMichael testified that after the incident, he returned home and informed his father. They returned to the construction site and dialed 911. Travis McMichael testified that the individual he saw that night was never seen or spoken to by police.
He then testified that he was sitting at home on the day of the shooting when his father came in in a “frantic state” and instructed his son to grab his gun, claiming that he had seen the man from days before and that “something’s happened.”
“I recognize … it is the same guy that I saw from the 11th,” Travis McMichael said. He then testified that after pursuing Arbery with his father in a vehicle, Arbery “turns and is on me, is on me in a flash.”
“He grabs the shotgun and I believe I was struck on that first instance that we made contact,” Travis said.
“I shot him,” Travis said. “He had my gun, he struck me. It was obvious that he was, he was attacking me that if he would have got the shotgun from me, then it was, this is a life-or-death situation. And I’m gonna have to stop him from doing this, so I shot.”
“I didn’t know where I was at, but I knew that he was on me, I knew that I was losing this,” Travis McMichael said. “I knew that he was overpowering me but I didn’t know which direction or what mechanics he was doing to overpower me.”
Arbery family members and representatives responded to Travis McMichael’s testimony following Wednesday’s court hearings.
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, spoke from the courthouse steps, saying she appreciated McMichael taking the stand because “it gave my family and I some insight on what he was actually thinking.”
“Mr. Travis McMichael killed my son all on assumptions,” she said. “He had no real facts or where Ahmaud was coming from, what Ahmaud had done. He just took actions into his own hands.”
She added, “He didn’t have any facts on hand when he chose to pull the trigger. Not one time, but three times.”
Ben Crump, Arbery Sr.’s attorney criticized McMichael’s defense in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, and said the trial has been particularly difficult on Arbery’s parents.
“It’s heart-wrenching. That’s why they need prayers, and they need the pastors’ prayers for them, just so they can try to keep their sanity,” Crump said.
“If this was your child, how would you keep composure after you see these people lynch him and then you see them offer this self-defense and people are actually taking this as if it’s credible?”
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