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Ahmaud Arbery's killers convicted of federal hate crimes

February 22, 2022

Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was shot dead while jogging through a Georgia neighborhood in 2020. The three white men convicted in his murder now face additional punishment.

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The family and attorneys of the Ahmaud Arbery raise their arms in victory after all three men were found guilty of hates crimes
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Ahmaud's mother, family members and the legal team celebrate the guilty verdictImage: Lewis M. Levine/AP/picture alliance

Three white men charged in the killing of Black man Ahmaud Arbery in the southern US state of Georgia were found guilty of federal hate crimes on Tuesday.

Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael, and his neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan were found guilty of violating Arbery's civil rights because of his race, as well as attempted kidnapping.

The McMichaels were also convicted of a federal firearms charge in the deadly 2020 encounter. The federal hate crime conviction carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

All three men had already been convicted of state murder charges and sentenced to life in prison.

What happened during the trial?

In the latest trial, federal prosecutors argued that the men killed Arbery out of racial prejudice. They provided evidence that the three defendants disparaged Black people in public, including using racial slurs.

"All three defendants told you loud and clear, in their own words, how they feel about African Americans," prosecutor Tara Lyons told the jury Monday.

Defense attorneys contended the three didn't chase and kill Arbery because of his race but acted on an earnest, though erroneous, suspicion that Arbery had carried out crimes in their neighborhood.

Travis McMichael (middle) speaks with his attorney Bob Rubin during the previous sentencing proceedings
Travis McMichael previously acknowledged at a federal court hearing that he singled out Arbery because of his 'race and color'Image: Stephen B. Morton/AP/picture alliance

Arbery was jogging in a mostly white neighborhood in the Georgian port city of Brunswick in February, 2020, when he was fatally shot.

The McMichaels grabbed their guns and chased Arbery, who was unarmed, in a pickup truck and shot the 25-year-old. Bryan recorded a cellphone video as he joined them in the pursuit.

The jury — made up of eight white people, three Black people and one Hispanic person — took just over three hours to reach a verdict.

lack Lives Matter and Black Panther protesters gather outside the Glynn County Courthouse where three men were found guilty of killing Ahmaud Arbery.
Protesters have long denounced Ahmaud Arbery's killing as an act of racial profilingImage: Stephen B. Morton/AP Photo/picture alliance

Plea deal rejected

"Ahmaud will continue to rest in peace. But he will now begin to rest in power,'' said Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, outside court. But, she added, "We as a family will never get victory because Ahmaud is gone forever."

Cooper-Jones railed against the Department of Justice, which had initially reached a plea deal with the defendants to avoid a trial. 

Before the federal trial, the McMichaels had agreed to plead guilty to the federal hate crimes offense.

Travis McMichael even acknowledged at a federal court hearing that he singled out Arbery because of his "race and color."

The plea deal struck with prosecutors would have allowed both McMichaels to spend 30 years in federal prison, instead of state prison. 

In a rare move, the court rejected the deal.

Arbery's killing, along with the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, were among a number of crimes that sparked massive anti-racism demonstrations in the US in the summer of 2020 under the Black Lives Matter movement.

lo/nm (AP, AFP, Reuters)