Travis McMichael Sentenced To Second Life Sentence for Federal Hate Crime in the Killing of Ahmaud Arbery
Many would say that justice has been served again today for the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.
U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood sentenced Travis McMichael to life plus 10 years on Monday (August 8) on federal hate crime charges and charges associated with kidnapping and illegally using a firearm.
CNN reports that the 36-year-old is not the only one waiting to hear about further charges. His father, Gregory McMichael and their neighbor and friend, William “Roddie” Bryan, will also learn their fate later on Monday in the federal charges they face. All three men were sentenced to life in prison based on the state charges against them, finding them guilty of the felony murder of Arbery. They have appealed their convictions in that case.
Both McMichaels were found guilty of the federal charges in February, with the son receiving his sentence first. Travis McMichael was found guilty of shooting Arbery using a shotgun, while his father, Gregory McMichael, was found guilty of using a .357 Magnum revolver.
During the trial, Judge Godbey Wood told Travis McMichael, “You killed a man on February 23, 2020. The events depicted in the video, they are seared in the annals of this court and and no doubt in your mind forever.”
Travis McMichael’s attorney asked Godbey Wood for him to serve his sentence in federal prison because of the number of threats to his life he has received in state prison, reports NBCNews. The judge, however, refused, leaving Travis McMichael to serve his days in state prison, where the Arbery family prefers him to stay.
Ahmaud Arbery
Ahamad Arbery was an unarmed Black man who was running in February 2020 through a neighborhood when father and son McMichaels and Bryan confronted him, shot him, and recorded the crime.