JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: WE’RE LOOKING INTO FEDERAL HATE CRIMES CHARGES IN ARBERY KILLING

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[Ahmaud Arbery\Justice Department]
“The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia have been supporting and will continue fully to support and participate in the state investigation.”
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The Department of Justice announced it will be looking into possible hate crimes charges in the Ahmaud Arbery murder case.

The Justice Department statement reads: “The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia have been supporting and will continue fully to support and participate in the state investigation. We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate. In addition, we are considering the request of the Attorney General of Georgia and have asked that he forward to federal authorities any information that he has about the handling of the investigation. We will continue to assess all information, and we will take any appropriate action that is warranted by the facts and the law.”

Arbery, 25, was shot dead by Travis McMichael, 34, son of retired police officer Gregory McMichael, 64, while jogging last February 23.

Both men, along with William “Robbie” Bryan chased Arbery and tried to detain Arbery. They have claimed they believed Arbery burglarized an open construction site while jogging.

The local Glynn County police, where Gregory McMichael once worked as a police officer, never arrested anyone for Arbery’s murder. Two local prosecutors, Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, and Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill failed to call for the arrests of the McMichaels. Both Johnson and Barnhill had working relationships with the McMichaels.

Around 74 days after Arbery’s murder, the McMichaels were finally charged with felony murder and aggravated assault on May 7, by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.

On May 21, Bryan was also charged with felony murder and attempted false imprisonment, for his role in trying to detain Arbery. His arrest warrant stated that Bryan attempted “to confine and detain” Arbery by “utilizing his vehicle on multiple occasions.”

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