Hate Crimes Trial to Proceed After Failed Plea Deal With Arbery’s Killers

Gregory McMichael had previously agreed to plead guilty, but a federal judge rejected the deal that offered a 30-year sentence. He has now affirmed his original not guilty plea, court records show.

ATLANTA — Gregory McMichael, one of Ahmaud Arbery’s three killers, reaffirmed his plea of not guilty in a federal hate crimes case on Thursday after his proposed plea deal was rejected by a judge, court records show. Mr. McMichael’s decision virtually ensures that he will be subject to an upcoming trial that may highlight ugly expressions of racism that were not brought up in the state murder trial.

Mr. McMichael, 66, along with his son Travis McMichael, 36, and their neighbor William Bryan, 52, were found guilty in November of murdering Mr. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, whom they chased through their neighborhood in a pair of trucks in February 2020. The pursuers, all white men, were each given life sentences in January.

The men have also been charged with federal hate crimes and attempted kidnapping, for which they could also face life sentences. But with the approach of Monday, the date jury selection is set to begin, the federal case was rocked by disagreement over plea deals the McMichaels recently reached with the Justice Department.