Prosecutor Ahmed Arbery reads the racist news of the killer

Brunswick, ca. (AP) – A lawyer on Thursday said the man who killed Ahmed Arbery had previously used racial slurs in a text message and on social media to weigh in on whether to grant bail to the defendant and his father.

Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael have been in jail since their arrest in May., More than two months after Arberry was killed. Magmicals saw the 25-year-old black man running out of the port city of Brunswick, chased the 25-year-old black man and shot him.

An investigator testified that a third defendant, Travis McMichael, 34, who took the cellphone video of the shooting, told authorities he had heard questions about whether racism played a role in the murder during the previous investigation. With a gun.

On Thursday in the courtroom, Zachary Longford, a childhood friend of Travis McMeil, testified that his friend was a joker, that he was acquainted with all of them, and that there was at least one black friend.

Attorney Jesse Evans then asked for a text message to Longford, in a text message sent to him last year by Travis McMichael, referring to black people as a “crackhead … golden teeth”.

Longford said he did not remember receiving the message in the first place. After reviewing a transcript of the exchange, he replied: “He refers to a raccoon, I believe.”

Evans also cited a photo that Longford posted on Facebook last year, to which Travis McMichael responded: “Zionara”, with an attack period for Asians, followed by a detailed one. Longford said he didn’t remember it.

Both defense lawyers have denied any racist motives in the shooting. Shortly after the Feb. 23 shooting, Gregory McMichael told police that he and his son had armed themselves and boarded a pickup truck to pursue Arbery because they suspected he was a robber.

“These men are proud of what they did,” Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, told the judge when she was denied bail. “They want to go home because they think in their selfish minds that they are good human beings.”

Prosecutors say Arbery was simply jogging when McMichaels followed him. Their defense lawyers insisted in court Thursday that it was not true.

“On the day in question, we have substantial evidence that Mr. Arberry is not a jogger,” said Robert Rubin, one of Travis McMichael’s lawyers. “He was there for bad purposes.”

Rubin gave no evidence in court that Arbery had done anything wrong on the day he was shot.

Longford’s wife, Ashley Longford, testified that she regretted that Travis McMichael had shot Arbery.

“He told me he wanted it to never happen,” he said. “He prayed daily for Ahmed’s mother and his family.”

High Court Judge Timothy Walmsley adjourned the court Thursday evening without a bond decision because there is still so much evidence. He planned to continue the trial on Friday.

McMichaels was not arrested until the Georgia Intelligence Unit took up the case after a cellphone video of the shooting was leaked online. In June, a major arbitrator indicted both McMichaels and neighbor William “Roddy” Bryan on charges.

Everyone faces charges of malicious murder, aggravated murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to experience false imprisonment.

Lee McMichael, the mother of Travis McMichael, who lived with himself and his father, has a 4-year-old son and testified that he did not have a passport. His lawyers cited his past service as a U.S. Coast Guard mechanic.

“By no means do I want to convey that I recommend for the mother to be inactive and that she would not look down on anyone, regardless of race, religion or creed.” , ”He wrote in a letter in support of the bond to his friend.

Gregory McMichael, 64, is a retired investigator and former Clin County police officer in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.

McMichals’ lawyers are also asking the judge to dismiss the charge of malicious murder, which was improperly written as “imposing two counts on one count.” They put forward a similar argument in order to throw out the criminal charge of experiencing false imprisonment.

The bond was denied before Brian. His lawyer argued in court movements that the entire charge should be dismissed.