In the preliminary hearing for the three Brunswick, Georgia men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, a law enforcement investigator testified that one of them stood over his body after shooting him and said, “f*cking n*gger.”

Georgia Bureau of Investigations special agent-in-charge Richard Dial took the stand in a Glynn County, Georgia courtroom and described what he found in his investigation of what happened on Feb. 23. In response to questioning from a prosecuting attorney, he said that on that day Greg McMichael and his son Travis McMichael had been chasing Arbery who was out on a jog through his neighborhood in a truck.
The two of them caught up with him on a road not far from the home they shared together. During their chase, they passed the home of William “Roddy” Bryan, whose surveillance camera captured the chase. Bryan, Dial said, got in his truck to assist in the chase. During the chase, Dial also testified to prosecutors the McMichaels had not initially called 911 for police assistance.
But the most contentious part of the encournter between Arbery and the McMichaels and Bryan was the pursuit. Dial says, Arbery was left with little choice, given the situation.
"I believe Mr. Arbery was being pursued, and he ran till he couldn't run anymore, and it was turn his back to a man with a shotgun or fight with his bare hands against the man with the shotgun," he said.. He chose to fight." he said. "I believe Mr. Arbery's decision was to just try to get away."

It was Bryan’s video that was released to the public that showed Arbery struggling with Travis McMichael until two shots rang out. Arbery attempts to get away but he stumbles and falls over dead. It was at that point, while they were standing over his body, that Travis McMichael uttered the racist vulgarity, according to questioning of Bryan later.
In further testimony, Dial said Greg McMichael had told police that he did not know Arbery, and did not see him doing anything but running down the street, but said he "knew instinctively" that he was a criminal. 
Bryan also said that he had seen other examples of Travis McMichael using the racial slur in interactions on social media, particularly during his time serving in the U.S. Coast Guard.
In defense examination, Dial said that in interviews with Travis McMichael, he did not really know if he had shot Arbery first or if Arbery tried to hit him, But that it was clear a confrontation had ensued.
“Mr. McMichael said his ‘adrenaline was pumping and it was all going very quickly,’ “ Dial testified.
His investigation found that both the McMicahels, with Travis driving his truck and his father in the passenger seat, and Bryan both gave chase. Both trucks were apparently trying to corner Arbery, but he was trying to escape them, although Bryan had said he was trying to get into his truck.
“It’s my belief Mr. Arbery’s motivation was a desire to flee.” A 911 call had not been made by Greg McMIchael at least until physical contact had been made between Travis McMichael and Arbery, according to testimony.

The shooting has been one of several flashpoints of racial profiling and police violence over the past several months including the police shooting of Breonna Taylor in a Louisville drug raid at the wrong house in March and George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis on March 25. Four officers have been charged in that case, one, Derek Chauvin with second-degree murder, the other three with aiding and abetting.
In Arbery’s case all three men have been charged with felony murder. Glynn County Magistrate Judge Wallace E. Harrell ruled after the testimony was concluded and closing argument were made that cases of all three men would be bound over for trial in Georgia Superior Court. A different judge will set bond for the three men at a later date.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated