Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery who was shot dead ‘tried to run… and get away’, court told
A group of men chased a black jogger – with one warning “I’ll blow your f****** head off!” – because they assumed he had committed a crime, a court has heard.
Ahmaud Arbery was pursued for five minutes by the group before being shot dead near Brunswick, Georgia, on 23 February 2020.
A phone video of the killing sparked outrage, and jurors were told on Friday that Mr Arbery had given the group no reason to suspect him of anything.
Travis McMichael fired the fatal shots, police say. Pic: Georgia Bureau of Investigations
“They assumed that he must have committed some crime that day,” prosecutor Linda Dunikoski told the court.
“He tried to run around their truck and get away from these strangers, total strangers, who had already told him that they would kill him. And then they killed him,” she said.
The 25-year-old was chased by Greg McMichael, 65, and his son Travis McMichael, 35, who grabbed weapons and got in their truck as he ran though their neighbourhood.
The court was told that William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, a neighbour, joined in and recorded the video of Travis McMichael shooting Mr Arbery three times.
The chase began after another neighbour saw Mr Arbery wandering inside a home under construction, where security cameras had recorded him before, and called a police non-emergency number.
Greg McMichael told police that at one point he had shouted at Mr Arbery: “Stop or I’ll blow your f****** head off!”, the prosecutor said.
William ‘Roddie’ Bryan was a neighbour who joined the chase. Pic: AP
“All three of these defendants did everything they did based on assumptions – not on facts, not on evidence,” Ms Dunikoski told the jury.
“And they made decisions in their driveways based on those assumptions that took a young man’s life.”
Mr Arbery’s mother cried out and sobbed as the grainy video of the killing was played to the court.
The prosecutor described how it shows Travis McMichael raise his shotgun as Mr Arbery approaches and tries to run around the opposite side of the truck.
He is then seen stepping in front of the vehicle to confront the fleeing man.
Greg McMichael, a former investigator for the local district attorney, told police they suspected Mr Arbery was a burglar and were trying to make a citizen’s arrest.
People have been on the streets of Brunswick protesting over the case
He said his son fired in self-defence after Mr Arbery attacked him with his fists and tried to take Travis McMichael’s gun.
The men’s lawyers say the neighbourhood was “on edge” over reports of thefts.
“It is a citizen’s job to help the police, and the law authorises that,” said Robert Rubin, a lawyer representing Travis McMichael.
Mr Rubin described Mr Arbery as “an intruder” who had been recorded four times “plundering around” a house under construction.
The video of the chase was played in court. Pic: AP
He called the footage of his death “a horrible, horrible video” but said his client had acted to protect himself after Mr Arbery refused to stop and lunged towards him and his gun.
“Travis McMichael is acting in self-defence,” he told the jury.
“He did not want to encounter Ahmaud Arbery physically. He was only trying to stop him for the police.”
Prosecutors insist Mr Arbery was just out jogging, had no weapons, keys or wallet on him – and had committed no crimes in the area.
Ms Dunikoski described him as an “avid runner” who often ran in the neighbourhood – less than two miles from his home.
“You’re going to be able to see his Nike shoes,” she told the court, “where he had basically no tread left on them whatsoever”.
The lawyer said the owner of the half-built property – where Mr Arbery had been seen on previous occasions – believed he was using a water source to quench his thirst and that nothing was taken.
Lawyer Linda Dunikoski
The case was largely ignored until the video was leaked online in May last year.
There has been controversy over the the jury, which is made up of 11 white people and one black person.
It took more than two weeks to select from more than 200 people – who were asked in detail what they knew about the case and how many times they had watched the video.
Prosecutors have objected to the final jury and said defence lawyers cut eight potential jurors because they were black.
The judge conceded there appeared to be “intentional discrimination”.
However, he said state law limited his authority to intervene as the defence gave non-racial reasons for excluding the black candidates.
All three defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment.
Ghislaine Maxwell has said she is “much, much happier” since being moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas, leaked emails reveal.
The messages – which were shared with US politicians – have been exclusively obtained by Sky’s US partner NBC News.
Maxwell, a disgraced British socialite and ex-girlfriend of the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
She was moved days after being interviewed by the Justice Department in July – even though prisoners convicted of sex offences aren’t meant to be held in such facilities.
This – along with reported perks such as meals sent to her dormitory room, late-night workouts and permission to shower when other inmates are in bed – have led some critics to claim she is receiving “VIP treatment”.
Maxwell is now serving her sentence at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas. AP file pic
Describing conditions at Federal Prison Camp Bryan, Maxwell wrote to a relative: “The food is legions better, the place is clean, the staff polite… I haven’t heard or seen the usual foul language or screaming accompanied by threats levelled by inmates by anyone.
“I have not seen a single fight, drug deal, passed out person or naked inmate running around or several of them congregating in a shower! In other words, I feel like I have dropped through Alice in Wonderland’s looking glass.”
The 63-year-old contrasted this with FCI Tallahassee in Florida, where she described possums falling from ceilings, frying on ovens, and mingling with food being served.
Some of Maxwell’s new inmates have told The Wall Street Journal that they have been threatened with retaliation if they speak about her to the media – with reports suggesting at least one was transferred.
Ghislaine Maxwell
Her lawyer David Oscar Markus told NBC News: “There’s nothing journalistic about publishing a prisoner’s private emails, including ones with her lawyers. That’s tabloid behaviour, not responsible reporting.
“Anyone still interested in that kind of gossip reveals far more about themselves than about Ghislaine. It’s time to get over the fact that she is in a safer facility. We should want that for everyone.”
Meanwhile, Maxwell’s brother Ian said their messages were ” private by their very nature” – and if they were sent to a reporter, “they were stolen and leaked without authorisation”.
The Justice Department has declined to comment.
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Federal Prison Camp Bryan is located in a residential area, ringed with barbed wire and houses about 635 prisoners – and Maxwell’s arrival over the summer sparked protests.
One demonstrator said back in August: “It’s brought a lot of attention to our town that we haven’t consented for. We don’t want a child sex trafficker here.”
Last month, the Supreme Court rejected Maxwell’s attempts to appeal her sentence – meaning a presidential pardon from Donald Trump is now her best shot at being freed before her projected release date in 2037, when she would be 75 years old.
Mr Trump told reporters at the time that he was planning to speak to the Justice Department and “would have to take a look” at whether he would consider clemency.
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Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges back in 2019, but pressure remains on those who had connections to the disgraced financier.
Earlier this week, the US Congress wrote to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor – who has now been stripped of his royal titles by the King – requesting an interview about his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein.
Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her after being introduced by Epstein. Andrew has always vehemently denied her accusations.
She alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times – including once at Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London.
US officials have issued an emergency order banning flights of the model of plane involved in a deadly crash in Kentucky last week, pending inspection.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) for McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft after a UPS plane bound for Honolulu crashed on take-off in Louisville on Tuesday evening, killing 14 people. The victims included three pilots.
Delivery firms UPS and FedEx had already grounded their fleets of the planes on Friday “out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety”.
The FAA said the order, which came following a recommendation by its manufacturer Boeing, was prompted after “an accident where the left-hand engine and pylon detached from the airplane”.
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Fire and debris after fatal cargo plane crash
A spokesperson for the authority added: “The cause of the detachment is currently under investigation. This condition could result in the loss of continued safe flight and landing.
“The FAA is issuing this AD because the agency has determined the unsafe condition is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design.
“The AD prohibits further flight until the airplane is inspected and all applicable corrective actions are performed.”
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The MD-11 was first manufactured by McDonnell Douglas in 1988, until its merger with Boeing in 1997.
A UPS MD11 landing at Philadelphia airport in March 2025. Pic: Wikipedia/Hamproductions
It was once used by commercial airlines, including Finnair and KLM, as a passenger jet, but was retired in 2014, and is now used only as a freight plane.
Government shutdown impacts commercial flights
It came as more than 1,300 commercial flights were cancelled in the US on Saturday because of an FAA order, unrelated to the Kentucky crash, to reduce air traffic amid the ongoing government shutdown.
The deadlock in Washington has resulted in shortages of air traffic control staff, who have not been paid for weeks.
Officials have warned that the number of daily cancellations could rise in the coming days unless the political row is resolved.
Hungary has been given a one-year exemption from US sanctions on using Russian energy, a White House official has said, after its Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Donald Trump in the White House.
Mr Orban succeeded in convincing the US president to allow Hungary to continue importing Russian oil and gas without being subject to the sanctions Mr Trump‘s administration had placed on Russian fossil fuels.
Hungary has been under heavy pressure from the European Union to end its reliance on Russian energy.
The EU has mostly heavily cut or ceased its imports of Russian oil and gas.
On 22 October, Mr Trump imposed sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil companies, in a major policy shift described by Vladimir Putin as an “unfriendly act”.
Mr Trump has also been pushing Europe to stop using Russian energy.
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Mr Orban, the country’s nationalist leader and a long-time ally of Mr Trump, has described access to Russian energy as a “vital” issue for his landlocked country.
He said he planned to discuss with Mr Trump the “consequences for the Hungarian people” if the sanctions came into effect.
Speaking at a news conference after his talks with Mr Trump, Mr Orban said Hungary had “been granted a complete exemption from sanctions” affecting Russian gas delivered to Hungary from the TurkStream pipeline and oil from the Druzhba pipeline.
“We asked the president to lift the sanctions,” Mr Orban said. “We agreed and the president decided, and he said that the sanctions will not be applied to these two pipelines.”
Mr Trump appeared to be sympathetic to Mr Orban’s pleas.
“We’re looking at it, because it’s very different for him to get the oil and gas from other areas,” he said.
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“As you know, they don’t have … the advantage of having sea. It’s a great country, it’s a big country, but they don’t have sea. They don’t have the ports.”
He added: “But many European countries are buying oil and gas from Russia, and they have been for years. And I said, ‘What’s that all about?'”
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Mr Trump and Mr Orban also discussed the war in Ukraine, with the US president saying: “The basic dispute is they just don’t want to stop yet. And I think they will.”
The president asked Mr Orban if he thought Ukraine could win the war, with the prime minister saying a “miracle can happen”.
Hungary reliant on Russian gas and oil
As part of the discussions, Hungary agreed to buy US liquefied natural gas (LNG), the US state department said, noting contracts were expected to be worth around $600m (£455m).
The two nations also agreed to work together on nuclear energy, including small modular reactors.
Mr Orban also said Hungary will also purchase nuclear fuel from the US-based Westinghouse Electric Company to power its Paks nuclear plant, which has until now relied on Russian-supplied nuclear fuel.
International Monetary Fund figures show Hungary relied on Russia for 74% of its gas and 86% of its oil last year. It warned an EU-wide cutoff of Russian natural gas could result in output losses in Hungary exceeding 4% of its GDP.
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