Man who shot Arbery testifies ‘to give my side of the story’

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The man who fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery has testified that he feared the 25-year-old Black man was armed with a gun when he encountered Arbery “creeping” outside an unfinished house in his neighborhood 12 days before the shooting. Travis McMichael’s testimony on Wednesday came as defense attorneys in the murder trial for the three white men charged with chasing and killing Arbery opened their case. They argue that their clients were lawfully trying to stop burglaries in their neighborhood in Georgia. McMichael said he first ran into Arbery at the house under construction on Feb. 11, 2020.