Ahmaud Arbery's parents object to DOJ's hate crime plea deal
CTV
The son and father convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery have reached a plea agreement that could avert a hate crimes trial and allow them to do their time in federal custody rather than state prisons. Arbery's parents denounced the deal and called on the judge to reject it.
Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, will ask the judge when the pretrial hearing resumes Monday afternoon to reject the deal, her lawyer, Lee Merritt, told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Brunswick.
The slain man's father, Marcus Arbery, told reporters he's "mad as hell" over the deal, which Merritt said could enable Travis and Greg McMichael to spend the first 30 years of their life sentences in federal prison, rather than state prison where conditions are tougher.
"Ahmaud is a kid you cannot replace," Arbery said. "He was killed racially and we want 100% justice, not no half justice."
Cooper-Jones described the U.S. Justice Department's decision to propose the plea deal despite her objections as "disrespectful."
