Travis McMichael, the youngest of the trio convicted of killing jogger Ahmaud Arbery, had a colorful way of saying he loved his job.
“Zero n***ers work with me. They ruin everything. That’s why I love what I do now. Not a n***er in sight.” McMichael said in the message, according to FBI analyst Amy Vaughan, and reported by CNN.
McMichael also used other offensive languages, calling Black people “criminals,” “monkeys” and “subhuman savages,” according to CNN.
The McMichales, Travis (36), his father Gregory (66), and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan (52), are in a Georgia Federal Court facing hate crime charges for tracking, cornering, and murdering Arbery, almost 2 years ago.
Vaughan also testified that Bryan used racial slurs and referred to Black people as “bootlips” a derogative term describing Black people’s lips.
Prosecutors argue the trio targeted Arbery because of his race.
“At the end of the day, the evidence in this case will prove that if Ahmaud Arbery had been White, he would have gone for a jog, checked out a cool house under construction, and been home in time for Sunday supper,” Assistant US Attorney Barbara Bernstein told the jury. “Instead, he went out for a jog and ended up running for his life.”
According to CNN, the defense has sought to downplay their clients’ racist statements, calling them opinions that are not a crime.
“I can’t stand before you today and say that my client has never used the n-word. That he’s never said anything derogatory about people of another race,” Copeland said. “You may think these words and these opinions are absolutely wrong. I do. And no one is going to tell you, the government even told you, that saying these words or expressing these opinions is a crime, no matter how hard to stomach these words and these opinions are going to be.”
The McMichaels are already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the slaying, while Bryan was sentenced to life with a possibility of parole.