World enews: Ahmaud Arbery’s killer sentenced to life in prison for federal hate crime

Travis McMichael has been sentenced to life in prison plus ten years for a federal hate crime in the deadly shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.

The life sentence handed down on Monday was McMichael’s second. It was ruled that he must serve the sentence in the custody of the state of Georgia, despite worries that other prisoners could impose a “backdoor death penalty,” Law & Crime reported.

McMichael, 36, is the first of three men convicted in a Georgia court, where US District Judge Lisa Wood rejected his request to be sent to federal custody because of safety concerns, saying that he can’t choose where to serve his sentence.

“I do deny that request, and turn instead to the rules that apply,” Judge Wood said, citing that the state of Georgia was first to charge, try, convict, and sentence McMichael.

McMichael pursued Mr Arbery, who was going for a run, on 23 February 2020. The 36-year-old’s father, Gregory McMichael, 66, and neighbour William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, also took part in the killing. Mr Arbery was running in Satilla Shores near Brunswick on the coastline of southeastern Georgia when he was pursued by the three men.

During trial, all three men claimed that they thought Mr Arbery was behind a number of burglaries in the neighbourhood, but the evidence only revealed that he had entered a construction site to have a look around.

The three men were convicted of Mr Arbery’s murder by a Georgia state jury. Bryan is the only one who may receive parole after 30 years as his role in the killing was considered to be more restricted, according to a state judge.

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