Ahmaud Arbery’s mom makes emotional plea for judge to reject suspects’ bail since they ‘did not allow my son to go home’
THE father-son duo charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery — and the man who police say filmed it — pleaded not guilty in a Friday court appearance before the victim's distraught parents delivered emotional impact statements.
Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were in the killing of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man while jogging in in February.
William Bryan, the man who filmed Arbery's shooting, also pleaded not guilty before the court heard arguments for and against releasing him on bail. The judge ultimately denied the bond application, citing flight risk concerns and a new investigation into sex crime allegations against Bryan. The court heard that the Camden County Sheriff's Office referred the matter to the GA Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday. In a social media post, a GBI spokesperson said the sex crimes investigation was "active and ongoing".
Arbery's father Marcus Arbery and mother Wanda Cooper-Jones were both present at the bail hearing and delivered powerful impact statements.
Mr Arbery said Bryan "acted as my son's judge, jury and executioner" and pleaded for him to remain behind bars.
“In this courtroom, there should not be any political statements being made," he said.
But Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley objected, saying: I do not see masks as being a political statement. I wore a mask when I took the bench."
Arbery was jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood earlier this year when he was shot down.
No arrests were made until May, after the video was widely shared on social media, pushing it into the national spotlight and prompting widespread outrage.
They said they thought Arbery matched the description of someone caught on a security camera committing recent break-ins in the area.
The McMichaels armed themselves with guns before getting in a truck to pursue him, the police report said.
Bryan told cops he heard the younger McMichael call Arbery the racial slur after he shot him.
Gregory retired in 2019 after more than two decades as an investigator for the local prosecutor’s office.
Because of those ties, the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from his case, and two outside prosecutors assigned the case have also stepped aside.
Local prosecutors' handling of the case has prompted an investigation after it took months for the McMichaels to be arrested.