A young man named Ahmaud Arbery was killed in 2020 by three people for simply jogging through a neighborhood. The three men——Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan,“ were found guilty of hate crimes and other charges for the 2020 murder, with all three currently serving life sentences as a result. Since then, it was revealed the three men asked an appeals court to toss their federal hate crime convictions.
Pete Theodocion, a defense lawyer for William Bryan said “Every crime committed against an African American by a man who has used racist language in the past is not a hate crime,” in an appellate document filed on behalf of Bryan.
The three convicted murderers filed legal briefs in their federal appeals on March 3 with the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Lawyers for Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan went on to say the hate crime convictions should be overturned because they pursued Arbery not because of his race but because they thought he was a criminal.
At one point in the written document, Bryan’s lawyer said “Arbery never called out for help or gave any signs that he was the victim of an unprovoked attack.” According to Time, the U.S. Justice Department has 30 days to file legal briefs in response to the appeals for the hate crime.
source: TIME
