All 3 men found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery
WASHINGTON DC, USA - Three white men were found guilty Wednesday of felony murder in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was running in their neighborhood when the defendants confronted him last year.
The nearly all-white jury convicted Travis McMichael of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.
Gregory McMichael and William Bryan were acquitted of the top charge. All now face up to life in prison.
“Even though this is not a celebration, it is a reflection to acknowledge that the spirit of Ahmaud defeated the lynch mob,” civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery, said outside the courthouse Wednesday afternoon.
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, said that her son “will now rest in peace.”
“It's been a long fight. It's been a hard fight,” she said. “I never saw this day back in 2020. I never thought this day would come. But God is good,” she said.
The McMichaels and Bryan chased Arbery in pickup trucks after they spotted him in their neighborhood outside Brunswick, Georgia on Feb. 23, 2020. Travis McMichael shot Arbery, 25, who was Black, with a shotgun at close range. Bryan filmed the fatal encounter on his cellphone.
Arbery’s family and civil rights leaders have likened his death to a modern-day lynching. The men also face federal hate crime charges.
Arbery's father was removed from the courtroom as the verdict was being read after he audibly celebrated the announcement that Travis McMichael was guilty of malice murder.
"He could not contain it any further. Think about how long he and Wanda have been enduring all the innuendo, all the allegations, all the character assassinations," Crump said when speaking outside the courthouse after the verdict. "Just imagine all they went through."
The jury deliberated for about 11 hours before reaching its decision.
About an hour into the second day of deliberations on Wednesday, jurors asked to review footage of the fatal encounter and a 911 call that Gregory McMichael made on the day of the shooting. The jury viewed two videos — one the original cellphone video and the other a “high contrast” version of the same video — three times each while seated in the courtroom. They then returned to the jury room.
8 Responses to “All 3 men found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery”
The one on the middle photo looks ra€!@l Af.