In The Murder Case Of Ahmaud Arbery, A US Judge Rejected A Hate Crime Plea Agreement.

A plea deal between federal prosecutors and two of the three white men convicted of murdering black jogger Ahmaud Arbery was rejected by a US judge.

District Judge Lisa Wood stated that she was unwilling to be constrained by the clause that permitted them to serve their sentences in a federal jail rather than a state prison.

Her decision comes after Travis McMichael revealed for the first time that chasing Mr Arbery was motivated by race.

The arrangement has been described as "devastating" by Mr Arbery's mother.

In November, Travis and Gregory McMichael, as well as their neighbor William Bryan, were found guilty of his murder.

The three were also facing a new federal trial for hate crimes, to which they had all pled not guilty. The trial was supposed to start next month.

However, according to court filings, US federal prosecutors reached a plea agreement with the McMichaels on Sunday.

Mr Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, vehemently opposed the deal, saying it was "all about serving time in a safer, less crowded prison" because it recommended the McMichaels be transferred to a federal prison for 30 years before being returned to Georgia prison custody for the rest of their lives.

Federal prisons are often thought to be less harsh than traditional state prisons.

"Please pay attention to what I'm saying: allowing these men their desired imprisonment circumstances will defeat me. After murdering my son, it allows them one final chance to spit in my face "The court was informed by Ms Cooper-Jones.

"Georgia has already given these men all they deserve. Please don't change anything."

Five federal charges were brought against the three white individuals, including interfering with Mr. "Arbery's right to utilize a public thoroughfare because of his color."

A federal trial, according to civil rights campaigners, would have been a watershed event in the country's confrontation with racial injustice.

The assassination of Mr. Arbery in February 2020 provoked outcry across the United States.

Following a fight with Gregory and Travis McMichael, he was shot while jogging. The men, as well as Bryan, their neighbor who filmed the incident, took more than two months to be apprehended.

It was dubbed a "modern-day lynching" by lawyers for Mr Arbery's family.

The McMichaels said they were trying to make a "citizen's arrest" and were defending themselves.

The McMichaels were sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of release in January, while Bryan was informed he could apply for parole after 30 years in prison.

The Crime Victims' Right Act, which ensures "the right to be reasonably heard in any public proceeding involving a plea offer," allowed Ms Cooper-Jones' impassioned six-minute-long appeal to the judge about the plea arrangement.