Brunswick, Georgia – The three men accused of fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery were indicted on federal hate crime charges, the Justice Department announced.

Ahmaud Arbery (†25) was jogging in his neighborhood on February 23, 2020, when three white men chased him down in a truck and shot him.

Two of the men, father Gregory (65) and son Travis McMichael (35), said they were acting in self-defense and carrying out a citizen's arrest. Gregory is a retired cop.

The third man, William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. (51), reportedly hit Arbery with his vehicle while trying to cut off his escape.

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Now, the federal government has deemed the three white men "used force and threats of force to intimidate and interfere with Arbery's right to use a public street because of his race."

The victim's mother told CNN that the indictments bring us "one step closer to justice."

The family's attorney Ben Crump said, "This is an important milestone in America's uphill march toward racial justice, and we applaud the Justice Department for treating this heinous act for what it is – a purely evil, racially motivated hate crime."

The hate crime charges as the most significant the Biden administration has leveled to date, the New York Times noted.

So far, a trial date has not been set for the accused.