Defendant Travis McMichael testifies under cross-examination of District Attorney Linda Dunikoski at the Glynn County Courthouse on Thursday, November 18, 2021 in Brunswick, Georgia. Travis McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and a neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan are charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery, 25, in February 2020. (Sean Rayford / Pool Photo via AP)
Black pastors flock to the courthouse from all over the country Prosecutor has doubts about the credibility of the man who fired fatal shots
The chief prosecutor in the murder trial of Travis McMichael pounded him on Thursday for contradicting and failing to take action to avoid the deadly confrontation that ended with him shooting Ahmaud Arbery on a suburban street in Braunschweig in February 2020.
Cobb County’s assistant district attorney Linda Dunikoski pointed to several inconsistencies between Travis McMichael’s testimony, which he gave to police a few hours after the shooting, and his testimony in court, as well as digging loopholes in his claims that he should do the Avoid conviction of murder for acting on his own initiative. Defense.
Thursday marked the 10th day of testimony in the high profile trial on the Georgia coast in which three white men, father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, were charged with murder, wrongful imprisonment and aggravated assault for the Death of 25 year old Arbery who was black.
Over the course of two days and hours of testifying in the Glynn County courtroom, Travis McMichael testified that he shot Arbery out of fear for his and his father’s life after spending five minutes chasing Arbery in a pickup truck. The chase ended with Travis McMichael firing his shotgun three times at close range at Arbery.
Dunikoski informed Travis McMichael of the numerous possibilities for him to stop chasing Arbery through the Satilla Shores neighborhood of the accused and to avoid the deadly confrontation.
For example, Travis McMichael could have made sure his father called 911 before chasing Arbery, they could have let him run away while they were at Bryan’s house, or stopped at the times they lost sight of him , she said.
The McMichaels argue that they attempted to arrest a citizen on Arbery who was tracked multiple times by security cameras in a neighboring house under construction. They described their reaction that day in response to a tense neighborhood due to property crimes.
Greg McMichael looks at the gallery during the testimony of his son Travis McMichael in the trial of him, his son, and William “Roddie” Bryan at the Glynn County Courthouse Tuesday November 16, 2021 in Brunswick, Georgia. The three are charged with the murder of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020. (AP Photo / Stephen B. Morton, Pool)
“So you’re telling this jury that a man who has spent five minutes running from you now thinks that somehow he wants to keep interacting with you – someone with a shotgun – and your father, a man. who just said: ‘Stop it or I’ll blow your head off’ by trying to get into their truck? ‘”asked Dunikoski.
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Travis McMichael.
In another exchange, Dunikoski asked Travis McMichael why he was pursuing Arbery after the first attempt at a conversation.
“He showed you three times that he didn’t want to talk to you, right,” she said. “He didn’t show you any threat either, he didn’t draw a gun. He didn’t say a word to you, he doesn’t threaten you in any way, either verbally or physically. ”
Dunikoski also questioned the discrepancies between Travis McMichael’s testimony, police testimony, and what he told an officer after meeting Arbery outside the vacant house a few weeks ago.
Throughout the grilling, Travis McMichael attributed his inconsistency to the feeling of stress after shooting.
“I did my best, but under the circumstances of a traumatic event,” McMichael said of the interview with the police. “That was the most traumatic event I have ever been through in my life. I’ve never seen a situation like this before. “
When speaking to an officer after the shooting, Travis McMichael never mentioned he was concerned about the safety of his father, a 65-year-old former police officer and Brunswick prosecutor, while Greg McMichael was standing in the back of a pickup truck with one. 357 magnum revolver, the prosecutor announced.
Travis McMichael said he got the impression his father was calling 911 when they started looking for Arbery and it wasn’t until shortly before the fatal encounter that he realized he was wrong.
Travis McMichael said his intention in the end was to keep an eye on Arbery and tell the cops which way he was going until Arbery was close enough to start a shotgun fight. Shortly before, the chief prosecutor argued that Travis McMichael could have avoided the situation.
Travis McMichael also testified that he cannot remember hearing his father threatening to kill Arbery, a comment Greg McMichael told authorities he made.
Travis McMichael described what he believed happened in conflicts between Arbery and Bryan’s Chevy Silverado.
Bryan told police that he tried to drive Arbery into a ditch four times during the chase, but the McMichaels have denied coordinating with Bryan, who recorded the end of the persecution with his cell phone.
“Do you want this jury to believe that Mr. Arbery is the attacker with the black truck?” Said Dunikoski. “Not the black truck that is trying to push him off the road to help you?”
But Travis McMichael said he did not know what was happening as Arbery appeared to have “attacked” the truck when they both came into view.
“I didn’t see the truck trying to push him off the road,” he replied.
Black pastors come into force
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Glynn County courthouse Thursday to support the family in response to Bryan’s attorney trying to prevent black pastors from sitting with the family during the trial.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, center, sits with Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, center right, at the Glynn County Courthouse during the trial of Greg McMichael and his son Travis McMichael and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan. Monday, November 15, 2021, in Braunschweig, Georgia. The three are charged with murdering 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020. (AP Photo / Stephen B. Morton, Pool)
Last week, defense attorney Kevin Gough urged the judge to Block other known black pastors from sitting in the gallery after Rev Al Sharpton sat in the courtroom and Gough repeated his opposition this week when Rev Jesse Jackson returned.
On Thursday, Gough continued to express his displeasure with the presence of the Black Pastors. Gough said a person in the courthouse said, “I support black pastors.”
“Given that the Black Pastors support our client’s belief, we would reject those kinds of slogans that are written outside in the foyer where witnesses are sitting,” said Gough.
Sharpton and Jackson were accompanied by dozens of black clergymen and civil rights activists at the courthouse demonstration and vigil, including Martin Luther King III, attorney Benjamin Crump, and attorney Lee Merritt, who represents Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones.
At the prayer rally on Thursday afternoon, Cooper-Jones said she was grateful for the support.
“God will put people in your way to help you,” she said. “You are the people for my family and me, and I want to thank you.”
Following the public release of Bryan’s cell phone footage showing the final moments of the chase, the shotgun fired and Arbery falling in the street, a national spotlight has shone brightly on the case. The case is considered by many to be a modern lynching of a black man in the hands of white men who used a pre-war citizen arrest law to justify their actions. State legislature the law on the arrest of Georgian citizens repealed in the legislative period 2021.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case in the spring of 2020 following the public release of footage showing Arbery’s death, and within weeks the McMichaels were arrested. Bryan was arrested two weeks later.
The jury’s make-up has been criticized for having only one black member, with race permeating the process, even though Gough declared he was during the selection process didn’t think the case was about race.
Sharpton said Thursday that he had seen many cases involving law enforcement officers and the courtrooms remained filled with uniformed police officers.
“And nobody ever says it’s intimidation or influence,” he said. “So if this attorney sets a precedent with us, then he’s setting a precedent for us to judge anyone in a courtroom in the United States.”
King, the son of the murdered civil rights activist, said he found Gough’s remarks troubling and that the McMichaels and Bryan should be held accountable. Final arguments are scheduled for Monday.
“It feels very racist to us to say that you cannot come to a public trial,” said King. “I would think a significant number of blacks were offended by his statement.”
Stanley Dunlap is the Georgia Recorder reporter who first published this report.