Ahmaud Arbery’s killers ask a US appeals court to overturn their hate crime convictions

By KATE BRUMBACK and RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Three white men are asking a U.S. appeals court to throw out their hate crime convictions in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. The 25-year-old Black man was chased by men in pickup trucks and fatally shot in the streets of a coastal Georgia subdivision in 2020. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta heard oral arguments Wednesday. An attorney for Greg McMichael said he began pursuing Arbery in the mistaken belief he was a criminal, not because of his race. Lawyers for Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan argued that their convictions were flawed based on legal technicalities.