The US Justice Department is charging 3 men with federal hate crimes in the death of Ahmaud Arbery

• Three men charged in connection with the death of Ahmaud Arbery were federally indicted Wednesday.
• They face hate crime and attempted kidnapping charges, in addition to charges of felony murder.
• Prosecutors say the defendants used force and threats to interfere with Arbery because of his race.

Three Georgia men have been charged with federal hate crimes and attempted kidnapping in connection to the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was killed in a shooting while jogging in his neighborhood last year.

The US Justice Department on Wednesday charged Gregory Michael, 65, a former police officer, his son, Travis McMichael, 35, and William "Roddie" Bryan, 51, with interference with rights and attempted kidnapping. Travis and Gregory McMichael were also charged with one count of using, carrying, brandishing, and in Travis's case - discharging -a firearm during a crime of violence.

The charges come amid a surge of federal investigations into police departments, and is "the most significant civil rights prosecution undertaken to date by the Biden administration Justice Department," according to the Associated Press.

According to prosecutors, the three men, who are all white, used force and threats of force to interfere with Arbery's right to use a public street, specifically because of his "race and color."

Following the shooting, Gregory told a responding officer Arbery had caught the men's attention because he looked like a man accused of a string of residential break-ins. The two decided to grab their guns and chase him, according to court documents.

The men chased Arbery, who was on foot, in a truck through the public streets of the Satilla Shores neighborhood, while yelling at him and threatening him with firearms, according to the indictment. Bryan then joined the chase, eventually cutting off Arbery's route with his truck, prosecutors allege.

Court documents say the three men then attempted to unlawfully seize and hold Arbery for reward. Gregory was armed with a revolver, while Travis brandished a shotgun, which he discharged during the incident that led to Arbery's death.

According to an autopsy released by the George Bureau of Investigation's forensic division, two shotgun wounds to the chest killed Arbery. A bullet also grazed his right wrist during a struggle with Travis over the shotgun, the report said.

The shooting, which was captured on video by Bryan, prompted a wave of protests and calls for justice.

Wednesday's new federal indictments are in addition to charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment filed in Georgia. The men never faced hate crime charges in Georgia, though, because the state notably did not have a hate crime law until June 2020 - more than three months after Arbery's death.