The man who killed Ahmaud Arbery testified Thursday that Arbery did not speak, show a weapon or threaten him in any way before he raised his shotgun and pointed it at him.
Under cross-examination by the prosecution on his second day of testimony, Travis McMichael said he was “under the impression” that Arbery could be a threat because he was running straight at him and he had seen the 25-year-old Black man trying to get into the truck of a neighbor who had joined in a pursuit of Arbery.
“All he’s done is run away from you,” prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said. “And you pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at him.”
McMichael testified several times on Wednesday that Arbery had scared him in their first encounter, on Feb. 11, 2020, outside a home under construction, saying he feared Arbery was armed when he reached toward his waistband that day. Arbery did reach for his waistband but never showed a gun.
When asked how many times McMichael had previously pulled up behind strangers in the neighborhood to ask them what they were doing there, he said never.
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski pressed McMichael on why he didn't include some details of his testimony Wednesday in his written statement to police, namely the part about his telling Arbery police were on the way.
Travis said he was “under stress, nervous, scared” at the time of his police interview and “probably being choppy.”
“What were you nervous about?” Dunikoski asked.
“I just killed a man," McMichael responded. "I had blood on myself. It was the most traumatic event of my life.”
“You were nervous because you thought you were going to jail, right?” Dunikoski asked.
“No. I gave them a statement,” McMichael said.
“So you don’t think you’re going to jail?” Dunikoski asked.
Meanwhile, well over 100 pastors and hundreds of others gathered outside the Glynn County courthouse before a scheduled rally led by the Rev. Al Sharpton was about to begin. Sharpton announced the rally after a defense attorney intensified frustrations in Brunswick when he said he didn’t want “any more Black pastors” sitting in the courtroom with Arbery’s family.
Many of the pastors carried signs that said “Black pastors matter.” Some wore buttons with Arbery’s picture and the hashtag they are using for the case, “#JusticeForAhmaud.”
A vendor sold T-shirts under a tent, while under another, a woman offered water and snacks and asked people to put donations in a pickle jar.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson once again joined Arbery's family in the courtroom on Thursday.
Attorney Kevin Gough asked the judge last week to remove Sharpton from the court, saying the civil rights activist was trying to influence the jury, which is disproportionately white. The judge refused, and later called Gough's remarks "reprehensible."
Gough, who represents William “Roddie” Bryan, pointed out on Thursday morning that the Rev. Jesse Jackson was in the courtroom again with Arbery’s family.
He also said he saw someone wearing an “I support Black Pastors” T-shirt during the break. Cheers broke out in the overflow room next door, where several Black pastors are seated, according to the AJC.
The Feb. 23, 2020, shooting deepened a national outcry over racial injustice after cellphone video of Arbery's death leaked online two months later.
McMichael and his father, Greg McMichael, armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after he ran past their home from a nearby house under construction. A neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, joined the chase in his own truck and recorded the video.
The McMichaels told police they suspected Arbery was a burglar because security cameras had recorded him several times in the unfinished house on their street.
Prosecutors say the men chased Arbery for five minutes and used their trucks to prevent him from fleeing their neighborhood before Travis McMichael shot him. They say there's no evidence that Arbery — who had enrolled at a technical college to study to become an electrician like his uncles — had committed any crimes.
