Gregory McMichael (age 64) is a former GCPD officer from 1982 to 1989 and worked as an Investigator for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office from 1995 until his retirement in May 2019.

The McMichaels became popular to the world because of the viral shooting video that went down on the Internet about the February 23 event that happened. On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Marquez Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old African American man, was fatally shot after being pursued and confronted by Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael, who were armed and driving a Pickup truck. The shooting happened on a neighborhood street in Satilla Shores, a community near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia, and was recorded on video by a neighbor of the McMichaels, who was following Arbery in another vehicle.

The fact that the McMichaels were not arrested until 74 days later, after the video went viral, sparked debates on racial profiling in America. Numerous religious leaders, politicians, athletes, and other celebrities condemned the incident. The GCPD and the Brunswick District Attorney's Office were nationally criticized for their handling of the case and the delayed arrests; Georgia Attorney General Christopher M. Carr formally requested the intervention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the case on May 10, which was formally granted the following day.

McMichael who was hired in July 1982 was also suspended in 2006 for an undisclosed infraction.

He worked on the force for 37 years.

He explained his deficient hours in an application where he asked for a training waiver.

McMichael explained that he suffered a Myocardial infarction in 2006, and dealt with clinical depression for which he needed medical treatment.

In 2009, McMichael and his wife filed for Bankruptcy "due to overwhelming medical bills from my surgeries as well as bills from my wife's cancer treatment," according to the waiver. McMichael also stated they were having issues with his daughter that year and that he suffered a second heart attack.

McMichael previously received a warning in 2014 after failing to finish mandatory firearms and use-of-force courses, and the documents show McMichael repeatedly failed to complete training over the course of several years.

Gregory McMichael, 64 years, and his son Travis McMichael, 34 years, are charged with aggravated assault and felony murder in the February 23 death of Arbery, who was killed while jogging just outside Brunswick, Georgia.

Travis McMichael is the alleged shooter in the case.

Hogue, along with his wife, Laura Hogue, are representing Gregory McMichael.

The couple are part of a criminal defense law firm in Macon, Georgia.

Documents show that Gregory McMichael's law enforcement certification was suspended and his firearm was taken away in February 2019 due to repeatedly failing to take mandatory training, one year before the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.

He retired a few months later in June 2019.

The shooting incident was captured on video that became public to the internet.

Arbery was jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood outside Brunswick when he was fatally shot on February 23, according to a Glynn County Police Department incident report.

Gregory McMichael told Police he thought Arbery looked like a suspect in a series of recent break-ins, according to the incident report. Gregory McMichael grabbed a handgun while his son took a shotgun and they pursued Arbery in a truck, the father told police, according to the report. When they caught up to him, Travis McMichael exited the truck with a shotgun and a struggle ensued between him and Arbery which got Arbery shot three times, including twice in the chest.

Gregory and Travis McMichael were arrested on May 7, two days after a 36-second video that appears to show the deadly confrontation surfaced online.

In December 2019 and January 2020, residents of Satilla Shores reported thefts, trespassing, and activities they deemed suspicious to police and posted on the Satilla Shores Facebook page and Next-door account.

Three break-ins or thefts were reported.

On December 8, 2019, a Satilla Shores Neighbor reported rifles stolen from their unlocked car. Police records next reported a theft on December 28, 2019. On January 1, 2020, Travis McMichael filed a report of a firearm stolen from his unlocked truck.

On February 11, 2020, Travis called 9-1-1 to report a slender 6-foot-tall black man with short hair wearing red shorts and a white shirt who was trespassing on the site of a house under construction.

Travis was breathing heavily on the call, and said, "I've never seen this guy before in the neighborhood."

The dispatcher asked whether Travis was OK, and he said, "Yeah, it just startled me.

When I turned around and saw him and backed up, he reached into his pocket and ran into the house.

So, I don't know if he's armed or not.

But he looked like he was acting like he was."

"We've been having a lot of Burglary and break-ins around here lately," Travis said on the call. He told the dispatcher that he was out in his truck and that as many as four neighbors were out looking for the man. His father Gregory was one of the people out searching that night, and Gregory and at least one other neighbor were armed. Police responded and searched the house along with a neighbor, but found no one. However, surveillance video from that evening showed a man who reportedly looked like Arbery, who briefly walked through the construction site.

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