Travis McMichael Called Ahmaud Arbery A Racial Slur After Shooting Him, Investigator Says

Ahmaud Arbery was still bleeding on the ground in Georgia when Travis McMichael called him the n-word, an investigator testified on Thursday.

One of the men charged for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was shot in Georgia in February, was heard using a racial slur just moments after the killing.

While Arbery was still bleeding on the ground, defendant Travis McMichael called him a "fucking nigger," Special Agent Richard Dial of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said at a court hearing on Thursday.

Arbery was killed Feb. 23 while out jogging in Brunswick. Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, chased Arbery down the road and shot him, later claiming they had thought he was a burglar.

Dial's information came from William "Roddie" Bryan, a neighbor of Travis and Greg McMichael's, who filmed the shooting.

"Mr. Bryan said that after the shooting took place, before police arrival, while Mr. Arbery was on the ground, that he heard Travis McMichael make the statement: 'fucking nigger,'" Dial said in his testimony.

The incident did not receive widespread national news coverage until May, when video of his killing was made public.

After public outcry, the father and son were charged with murder and aggravated assault.

In May, the Department of Justice said they were also investigating the killing as a possible federal hate crime.

DOJ spox on the Ahmaud Arbery case: "We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate. ... We will continue to assess all information, and we will take any appropriate action that is warranted by the facts and the law."


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