Travis McMichael, one of the men on trial for killing Ahmaud Arbery in 2020, admitted during his cross-examination on Thursday to writing posts supposedly endorsing vigilantism.
Raw Story reported that while questioning the suspect, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski brought up a Facebook post attributed to his account. The post explained that criminals who wanted to commit crimes in his neighborhood were "playing with fire." She also showed the defendant a reply he made in 2019 toward a post about committed crimes, simply saying, "Arm up."
The final social media post Dunikoski showed McMichael was a Facebook conversation between him and an acquaintance, whose name will not be shared by Newsweek. The friend mentioned wanting to "make examples" of robbers, with McMichael replying with, "That's right. Hope y'all catch the vermin."
He had also made an additional comment on the conversation that said his father, Gregory, who is also on trial for Arbery's death, was "the same" as his friend's father; the friend had told him that her father was "slap crazy, old as dirt, and doesn't care about going to jail," said Dunikoski, implying that the context of the messages appeared to say that the older McMichael would commit vigilante justice if need be. Travis said in the conversation that he was "beginning to feel the same."
In response to the evidence, he admitted that he did write the Facebook posts and messages shown by Dunikoski.
The revelation came on the second day of questioning the younger McMichael. He also said that Arbery did not appear to threaten him or show a weapon as he raised a shotgun toward the man.
"He just ran?" Dunikoski asked McMichael.
"Yes, he was just running," he answered.
He answered no after being asked if he had ever pulled his car next to strangers in his neighborhood.
"You know that no one has to talk to anyone they don't want to talk to, right?" the prosecutor replied.
The McMichaels and neighbor William Bryan claim that they had thought Arbery was a robber, prompting them to chase through their neighborhood of Brunswick, Georgia, before killing him. Bryan recorded video of the chase and subsequent shooting that was eventually released to the public. Family and supporters of Arbery have compared his death to a modern-day lynching.
"Through technology we have been forced to bear witness to the public executions of our Black brothers and sisters," the Rev. Gregory Edwards said during a rally.
During the cross-examination, Black pastors gathered outside the Glynn County Courthouse. According to the Associated Press, a defense attorney for the defendants said that he didn't want "any more Black pastors" in the courtroom with the victim's family.
Uncommon Knowledge
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