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BRUNSWICK, Ga (AP) – The man who shot Ahmaud Arbery had previously used racist slurs in a text message and on social media, a prosecutor said on Thursday as a judge considered granting a bail for the accused and his father.
Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, have been jailed since their arrest in May, more than two months after Arbery’s death. The McMichaels, who are white, pursued and shot the 25-year-old black man after seeing him running in their neighborhood just outside the port town of Brunswick.
Whether racism played a role in the murder was raised in a previous hearing when an investigator said a third defendant, who filmed the shooting by cell phone, told authorities that ‘he had heard Travis McMichael, 34, use a racial slur after he lambasted Arbery three. times with a shotgun.
In the courtroom Thursday, Zachary Langford – a friend of Travis McMichael’s since childhood – testified that his friend was a prankster who got along with everyone and had at least one black friend.
Then District Attorney Jesse Evans questioned Langford about a text message Travis McMichael sent him last year that used an insult to black people by referring to a “crackhead … with golden teeth”.
Langford initially said he did not recall receiving the message. Then after reviewing a transcript of the exchange, he replied, “He was referring to a raccoon, I believe.
Evans also cited a photo Langford posted on Facebook last year to which Travis McMichael replied: “Sayonara,” with a term offensive to Asians followed by a curse. Langford said he didn’t remember it either.
Defense attorneys for the two McMichaels have denied any racist motives in the shooting. Right after the February 23 shooting, Gregory McMichael told police he and his son armed themselves and got into a van to pursue Arbery because they suspected he was a burglar.
Prosecutors say Arbery was just jogging when the McMichaels chased him. Their defense lawyers insisted in court Thursday that is not true.
“We have substantial evidence that on the day in question Mr. Arbery was not a jogger,” said Robert Rubin, one of Travis McMichael’s attorneys. “He was there for nefarious purposes.
Rubin gave no evidence in court that Arbery had done anything wrong the day he was shot.
Langford’s wife, Ashley Langford, said Travis McMichael expressed remorse for shooting Arbery.
“He told me he wished it never happened like that,” she said. “He prayed daily for Ahmaud’s mother and her family.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley has made no ruling on bail for either McMichael. He was still hearing her testimony Thursday afternoon.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told the Glynn County courthouse that the McMichaels should remain in jail pending trial because “these guys are dangerous.” She also said she doubted they would have any regrets.
“I live over there in the community,” Cooper-Jones said. “No one reached out to say, ‘I’m sorry for your loss. “I don’t think they have any remorse at all.”
The McMichaels were not arrested until video of the cellphone shooting was leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case. In June, a grand jury indicted McMichaels and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, on charges.
Each is charged with malicious murder, murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Travis McMichael’s mother, Lee McMichael, said he lived with her and his father, had a 4-year-old son and did not have a passport. His lawyers cited his past service as a U.S. Coast Guard mechanic as proof of his character.
“In no way is Travis’s form or form hateful towards a group of people, and he does not despise anyone because of their race, religion or belief,” Curt Hall, a former roommate at the Coast Guard Travis McMichael who describes himself as “multiracial”, wrote in a letter of support to his friend.
Gregory McMichael, 64, is a retired investigator with the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office and a former Glynn County police officer.
Lawyers for the McMichaels are also asking the judge to dismiss the indictment of malicious murder, saying it was drafted to “falsely charge two felonies in one count.” They made a similar argument to dismiss a charge of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Bryan had previously been denied bail. His lawyer has argued in court motions that the entire indictment should be dismissed.
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