Ahmaud Arbery: A timeline toward justice
Jury selection begins Monday in the murder trial of Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan in the Feb. 23, 2020, shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.
Savannah Morning News will be covering the trial, along with its colleagues at the Augusta Chronicle and USA Today.
SMN pulled together a timeline of events that transpired before and after Arbery's killing to provide context for the upcoming trial. SMN will be updating this timeline as the trial progresses.
Nov. 17, 2019 – Larry English, a resident of Douglas, Georgia, calls Glynn County police to report a couple trespassing on his property at 220 Satilla Drive, where he has a home under construction.
Nov. 18, 2019 – English contacts Glynn County police to report a man trespassing on his property. There are no reports of anything stolen.
Jan. 1, 2020 – Travis McMichael contacts Glynn County police to report a pistol stolen from his unlocked vehicle.
Jan. 30, 2020 – Georgia state Senator William Ligon introduces legislation allowing Glynn County residents to abolish the Glynn County Police Department because of ongoing corruption. Then-Glynn County Police Chief John Powell remains under investigation for covering up an affair between one of his narcotics officers and a confidential informant.
Feb. 11, 2020 – Travis McMichael reports seeing a "slender 6-foot Black man with short hair" donning red shorts and a white shirt pass through English's property. Police and a neighbor surveyed the property but found no one. Surveillance video shows a man who allegedly looks like Arbery walking in and out of the home.
Feb. 23, 2020 – Arbery is shot and killed at 1:08 p.m. at the 200 block of Satilla Drive in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, a small community less than two miles from his home across U.S. 17. According to the county police report, an officer responded to a call of "shots fired and a male on the ground 'bleeding out.'"
An officer arrives to find Gregory McMichael, a former Glynn County police officer and investigator for the Brunswick District Attorney's office, and his son Travis McMichael, standing over Arbery's body. Bryan is in another vehicle.
Glynn County police officers seek legal advice from the Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson about possible charges for the McMichaels. The DA advised no arrests were necessary at the time, and said the police would be contacted by the Waycross Judicial Circuit the following day.
Feb. 24, 2020 - Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill advised the Glynn County Police Department that no arrests should be made.
Feb. 27, 2020 – Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson recuses herself from the case because Gregory McMichael had previously worked as an investigator in her office. The case is transferred to Barnhill’s office. The Georgia Attorney General’s Office said neither Johnson nor Barnhill told the office that Barnhill had reviewed evidence in the case.
Feb. 28, 2020 - Glynn County grand jury indicts Police Chief John Powell and three other county officers for witness tampering, criminal intent, and oath of office violations related to covering up an affair between one of the department's narcotics officers and a confidential informant. Powell is placed on administrative leave.
March 8, 2020 – After discussion with Glynn County police, Glynn County Commissioners Allen Booker and Peter Murphy accuse Jackie Johnson of preventing the McMichael’s arrest. Johnson denies the claims.
April 1, 2020 – Barnhill receives Arbery’s autopsy report.
April 2, 2020 – In a memorandum to Glynn County police, Barnhill again advises Glynn County police not to make an arrest.
April 7, 2020 – Barnhill requests to be recused from the case, citing his son’s relationship with Gregory McMichael.
April 13, 2020 - Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden is appointed to the case. The circuit sits next to the Brunswick Judicial Circuit.
April 26, 2020 - The New York Times runs an article on Arbery's killing, raising the question of why no arrests had been made.
May 5, 2020 – Local radio station WGIG receives a copy of the video of Arbery’s killing from criminal defense attorney Aland David Tucker and posts it on the station's website. Tucker, who’d informally consulted the men, shares the video with the hopes of providing transparency in the case. The video, shot by Bryan on his cellphone, shows the McMichaels pursuing Arbery and Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times, twice in the chest with a shotgun. The station removes the video two hours later.
State Attorney General Chris Carr asks Georgia Bureau of Investigation to take over the case.
May 7, 2020 – GBI officers arrest Gregory and Travis McMichael and charge them with murder and aggravated assault in the killing of Arbery. The GBI confirms Travis McMichael fired the fatal shots.
May 8, 2020 – On what would be Ahmaud Arbery’s 26th birthday, his family and organizers take part in a 2.23-mile run in honor of him.
May 10, 2020 – The Georgia Attorney General’s Office asks the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into the handling of the Arbery case.
May 11, 2020 – The case is reassigned to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, making then-district attorney Joyette M. Holmes the fourth DA to handle the case. The case is then transferred from the Atlantic Judicial District Circuit to metro Atlanta, which is about 270 miles away from the region.
The U.S. Department of Justice announces its Civil Rights Division, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia will determine if federal hate crime charges are appropriate.
May 21, 2020 – Bryan is arrested and charged with murder and attempt to commit false imprisonment.
June 4, 2020 – A Glynn County Magistrate judge finds probable cause in the murder charges against the men.
The case against Gregory McMichael
The case against Travis McMichael
The case against William "Roddie" Bryan
June 23, 2020 – The Georgia Legislature passes new hate crimes legislation after previous versions of the bill failed to pass in the Senate. At the time, Georgia is one of four states without a hate crime law. Gov. Brian Kemp signs the law June 26, 2020.
June 24, 2020 – A Glynn County grand jury indicts the McMichaels and Bryan on nine counts: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. All three men plead not guilty.
July 16, 2020 – Judge denies bond for Bryan.
Nov. 4, 2020 – Jackie Johnson loses re-election bid for Brunswick District Attorney.
Nov. 13, 2020 – Judge denies bond for Gregory and Travil McMichael.
More:Ahmaud Arbery was killed at 25. A year later, Black men who see themselves in him mourn his loss
Jan. 11, 2021 – Glynn County Police Chief John Powell is fired.
Feb. 16, 2021 – Gov. Kemp announces plans to repeal and replace the state’s citizen’s arrest law. The Civil War-era law was originally put into place in 1863, and was passed on racist precedent: the law allowed any Georgia resident to arrest escaped slaves fleeing to fight in the Union Army and has been used to justify the lynching of Black people in the state.
Under the new bill, businesses are still allowed to detain suspected thieves, and provisions for self-defense are included. But for bystanders and witnesses of a crime, arresting a fellow citizen isn’t usually an option.
April 28, 2021 – The McMichaels and Bryan are indicted on federal hate crime and kidnapping charges. The McMichaels are also indicted on gun charges.
May 10, 2021 – Georgia’s updated citizen’s arrest law is passed and signed by Gov. Kemp.
May 12-13, 2021 - A hearing is held to decide if Arbery’s prior arrests for carrying a gun on school property and shoplifting will be used during the trial. Chatham County Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley presides over the hearing.
Aug. 30, 2021 – Walmsley rules Arbery’s criminal history cannot be brought up by the defense during the trial.
Sept. 2, 2021 – Glynn County grand jury indicts former Brunswick DA Johnson for obstruction of a police officer and violation of oath of office.
Oct. 18, 2021 – Jury selection in the trial begins.
Feb. 7, 2022 – Jury selection in the federal trial begins.
Nov. 24, 2021 – A jury found three Georgia men guilty of murder and other charges in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.
This timeline will be updated throughout the course of the trial.
Raisa is a Watchdog and Investigative Reporter for The Savannah Morning News. Contact her at rhabersham@gannett.com.