CNN —
Texts and social media messages from two of the White men
convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery included racist insults about African Americans, an FBI intelligence analyst testified Wednesday in their
federal hate crime trial in Georgia.
FBI analyst Amy Vaughan testified about several text messages between Travis McMichael – who fatally shot Arbery, a Black man, in February 2020 – and friends using offensive language and racist slurs.
The first text message introduced into evidence was between Travis McMichael and a friend, dated March 16, 2019, in which Vaughan said they were discussing Travis’ new job and why he liked that he didn’t work with Black people.
“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 Vaughan.
Vaughan also testified messages found in defendant William “Roddie” Bryan’s phone showed evidence of racial animus.
She found messages using the n-word as well and the word, “bootlip,” which she described as “Mr. Bryan’s word of choice.” She went on to explain that “bootlip” is a derogatory term for a Black person, referencing a stereotypical characterization of a Black person’s face, in her testimony.
When a prosecutor asked her if she found evidence of racial animus against African Americans during her investigation, Vaughan said she had.
The analyst also testified about a number of messages and social media posts from Travis McMichael that came up in her investigation related to racial violence. On a Facebook video of what
Vaughan described as a mob beating a White teenager, McMichael posted a public comment suggesting shooting the group of primarily Black teenagers.
More messages from Travis McMichael
Vaughan testified Wednesday she reviewed the cell phones of Travis McMichael and Bryan; Instagram posts of Travis McMichael; Facebook files for all three defendants; and the Facebook account of the Satilla Shores neighborhood.
Vaughan said she had extracted the text messages from Travis McMichael’s phone the day Arbery was killed.
A text message dated January 21, 2019, referenced Travis McMichael meeting a friend at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant. Vaughan read the conversation aloud in court. The friend tells Travis, “This Cracker Barrel up here is full of some other kinds of people.” Travis’ reply used a racist slur about African Americans."Should be called N****r Barrel"
As this discussion was happening, Arbery’s father walked out of the courtroom shaking his head. He returned a short time later, still shaking his head as the testimony continued.
A Facebook message that Travis McMichael sent another friend, Vaughan testified, included a video with a Johnny Rebel song containing a racist slur. The video was played as part of the evidence in court.
The song had been edited onto another video showing a segment from “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” with a young Black boy dancing. The actual video from the show does not use the offensive song.
In another message entered into evidence, dated November 1, 2016, the day after Halloween, Travis McMichael is sent a photo from a friend. Vaughan said the photo appeared to be a “crude attempt” to depict Trayvon Martin after he was killed. The text was laughing about a man in blackface with a red splotch on a hoodie, the friend called it “the winner of Halloween 2016.”
Evidence was also entered into record that Vaughan described as showing vigilantism from the older McMichael. Vaughan described a comment from Gregory McMichael on a social media post about a stolen surfboard where
he suggested he might catch the culprit, and added: “We still hang horse and board thieves up here. Woe be to the sticky-fingered b*stard.”
Bryan used slurs against Black people in messages about Martin Luther King Jr. Day, witness testifies
Vaughan testified Bryan regularly used slurs against Black people in messages on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
In what appeared to be a personal joke, Bryan was referred to as the “Grand Marshal” in a message from a friend. Vaughan testified that this was a joke that referred to the idea that Bryan would be the grand marshal of an MLK Day parade.
“He would never do that, because he doesn’t particularly care for Black people or MLK Day,” Vaughan testified as she explained the joke.
Also introduced into evidence was a WhatsApp message dated January 20, 2020, from Bryan to a friend, that was read aloud in court.
“Happy Bootlip Day,” Bryan wrote. Bryan went on to say, “I worked like a n***er today,” according to Vaughan.
not Bryan! not the widdle biddie harmless cameraman! He wasn't racist I thought only the other two were!!!
Another set of WhatsApp messages discussed Bryan discovering that his daughter was dating a Black man. A message between Bryan and friend dated February 19, 2020 – four days before Arbery’s killing – had Bryan using a slur in reference to the boyfriend "She found her n*gger".
welp. The whole prison block knows now.
Vaughan said Bryan’s daughter’s relationship remained an ongoing theme in messages. A photo posted on Facebook of Bryan’s daughter and her Black boyfriend together was sent to Bryan in a WhatsApp message on April 8, 2020. Bryan responded that if his daughter did not care about herself, “Why should we?”
The defendants’ attorneys, speaking separately, acknowledged the men had used racist language – but said that their actions toward Arbery were not related to race.
“Greg and Travis McMichael followed Ahmaud Arbery not because he was a Black man, but because he was the man who had been illegally entering the house that was under construction,” A.J. Balbo, Gregory McMichael’s defense attorney,
said Monday.