*Ahmaud Arbery was called a ““F–king n—-r” by his killer as he lay dying on the pavement after being fatally shot while allegedly jogging through his Georgia neighborhood.
Georgia Bureau of Investigations Special Agent Richard Dial testified during a preliminary hearing on Thursday against the three men charged in Arbery’s murder: Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and William Bryan, ajc.com reports.
According to testimony during the probable cause hearing, the McMichaels saw Arbery out exercising on Feb. 23 in Brunswick, when they decided to chase him down and confront him with two firearms, believing him to be a burglary suspect. Bryan used his pick-up truck to help trap Arbery on the road, allowing Travis to fatally shoot him.
As noted by PEOPLE, Dial testified that while speaking with police, Bryan “made several statements about trying to block him in and using his vehicle to try to stop him.” He also didn’t spill the tea about Travis calling Ahmaud the N-word until eight days before his arrest, on May 13.
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If there were any doubt before this hearing— it is now clear the murder of #AhmaudArbery occurred almost entirely due to racial bias, actual animist and deep seeded hatred of blackness.
— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) June 4, 2020
Dial noted that prior to Arbery’s death, Travis used the N-word numerous times on social media and in text messages.
Gregory, 64, and Travis, 34, weren’t arrested until after video of the deadly confrontation filmed by Bryan surfaced more than two months after the heinous crime.
Arbery’s death was ruled a homicide by the GBI, as such, father and son were slapped with murder and aggravated assault charges.
Bryan has also been charged with murder.
Attorneys for Travis McMichael are now suggesting Ahmaud Arbery was trying to break into the truck during the chase.
Dial: “I’d say Mr. Arbery was trying to escape.”
Arbery’s mother has left court, tired of the defense’s arguments per @MeritLaw pic.twitter.com/KYto6KdvbX
— Wright Gazaway (@wgazawayWTOC) June 4, 2020
Lead prosecutor Jesse Evans said Arbery was “chased, hunted down and ultimately executed.”
Arbery was shot three times and “died of multiple shotgun wounds sustained during a struggle for the shotgun,” the autopsy report said. He sustained two close-range gunshot wounds in the chest and a graze wound on his right wrist.
“They decided he was somewhere he shouldn’t be and they decided to catch him,” Dial said.
The Arbery’s family attorney, Lee Merritt, shared some of the shocking testimony on his Twitter page on Thursday, peep some of the tweets below:
Testimony inadvertently put on record by Defense counsel for Travis McMichael established that his client was a well known violent racist who regularly used racial epithets and made terroristic threats to black people.
— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) June 4, 2020
GBI investigators learned Travis McMichael shouted “fucking nigger” while standing over #AhmaudArbery’s body after they made the decision to arrest.
This new evidence should be instructive to the FBI investigation into Federal Hate Crime Charges.
— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) June 4, 2020
Larry English, the homeowner, repeatedly told law enforcement the jogger who entered his property #AhmaudArbery never stole or damaged anything. English believed he entered his property for water.
Defense insist on calling this entry a “burglary”.
— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) June 4, 2020
Defendant Travis McMichael told police the first shot from the shotgun blast struck #AhmaudArbery in the chest refuting previous claims that he shot Ahmaud in the hand first as he grabbed for the gun.
This demonstrates deadly intent from the onset.
— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) June 4, 2020
Defendant Greg McMichael told police he DID NOT KNOW #AhmaudArbery and did not see him do anything other than run down the road but he “knew instinctively he was a criminal” #criminalisthenewblack
— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) June 4, 2020
?BREAKING? Defendant Travis McMichael declared “Fucking Nigger” as he stood over the body of #AhmaudArbery according to testimony of defendant William Bryan and video recording.
— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) June 4, 2020
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