In the aftermath of his son, Travis McMichael, shooting Ahmaud Arbery following a pursuit through their local community, Greg McMichael reached out to his past employer and primary the regional prosecutor, seeking guidance. Within an hour of the incident, McMichael was on a call with District Attorney Jackie Johnson pleading, ‘My son and I are implicated in a shooting and we require counsel instantly.’ The subsequent circulation of a horrifying video depicting the deed contributed to the eventual filing of charges against Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael and their acquaintance William ‘Roddie’ Bryan. Under observance are three Caucasian males who used firearms and vehicles in an attempt to surround a 25-year-old African American man, all of whom have received life sentences for murder and hate crimes at federal level.
Yet, for over 60 days the trio managed to evade arrest, courtesy of ongoing phone communication between Greg McMichael and Johnson, as indicated by court documents. As we approach the half-decade anniversary of the harrowing incident, Johnson herself faces trial for alleged interference in police investigations into Arbery’s tragic demise, utilizing her executive powers to her apparent advantage. Selection of jurors for the high-profile trial is slated to commence this Tuesday in the dockyard city of Brunswick, positioned 70 miles south from Savannah.
Victim Ahmaud Arbery, a fitness enthusiast known to go on regular runs, would often pass through the Satilla Shores subdivision where he ultimately met his end in the coastal area of Glynn County, at a distance of less than 2 miles from his dwelling. On the ill-fated day of Sept. 23, 2020, as Arbery was out on his routine run, he passed by the McMichaels’ estate. This prompted the father-son duo to arm themselves and embark on a chase. Bryan also involved himself, driving his own vehicle and also recording the distressing incident.
The recording caught on Bryan’s phone displays Travis McMichael and Ahmaud Arbery in a physical struggle over the former’s shotgun, and then Arbery being shot at close range by Travis when the young victim attempted to evade the scene by running around the parked vehicles. The police reports state that Arbery was found unarmed and was not in possession of any pilfered items, but the involved parties were allowed to leave the crime scene. The official incident report contained a statement from Greg McMichael implying that they had speculated Arbery was guilty of thievery from a nearby house under construction and that Travis responded in self-defense thereby firing his gun.
Subsequent to the shooting incident, the handling of the case was transferred to the Bureau of Investigation of Georgia from the local police department. Following this shift, the McMichaels were immediately detained and after a lapse of an additional fortnight, Bryan was arrested as well. At the moment Arbery was shot, Jackie Johnson was serving her tenure as a district attorney of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit in southeast Georgia, which had already lasted a decade.
Before his retirement in 2019, Greg McMichael had been employed as an investigator in Johnson’s office. The responsibility of the case was delegated by Johnson to George Barnhill, a district attorney from another district, thereby making him the first-ever outsider to be assigned to this role. Johnson stands accused of oath violation during her term as an official, a felony that might land her in jail for a period ranging between one to five years, grounded on the premise that she used her post to display ‘favor and affection’ towards her ex-employee Greg McMichael.
Moreover, the indictment extends a further blame on her for a misdemeanor — tampering with the police’s ongoing investigation of the shooting — alleging that she ‘instructed not to put Travis McMichael under arrest.’ In a statement given to The Associated Press in 2020, Johnson rejected the accusations insisting that her office didn’t advise the police against any arrest. Johnson’s primary defense attorney, Brian Steel, also echoed this during a pre-trial hearing held in December, stating that Johnson had her attention occupied with another high-profile indictment and ‘was oblivious to the developments in Ahmaud Arbery’s case.’
While the prosecution has decided to keep a tight lid on their trial evidence for now, it has been suggested in court documents that a total of 16 calls were conducted between the mobile numbers of Greg McMichael and Johnson during the weeks that succeeded the shooting.