Arbery’s Shooter Withdraws Guilty Plea on Hate Crime Charge

Travis McMichael looks on during the sentencing in his trial along with his father Greg McMichael and neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, in the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., on Jan. 7, 2022. Stephen B. Morton/Pool Photo via AP

BRUNSWICK, Ga.—The man convicted of murder for shooting Ahmaud Arbery withdrew his guilty plea on a federal hate crime charge Friday, electing to stand trial for a second time in the 2020 killing of the black man.

Travis McMichael reversed his plan to plead guilty in the federal case days after a U.S. District Court judge rejected terms of a plea deal between defense attorneys and prosecutors that was met with passionate objections by Arbery’s parents.