All 3 men charged in Arbery’s death convicted of murder

The convictions for Greg McMichael, son Travis McMichael, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan came after the jury had deliberated for about 10 hours. The men face minimum life sentences. The judge must decide whether this takes place with or without the possibility of parole.

Travis McMichael stood for the verdict with his attorney’s arm around his shoulder. At some point McMichael lowered his head to his chest. After the verdicts were read, he said “love you” to his mother, who was in the courtroom, as he got up to leave.

Shortly after the verdicts were announced, Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery Sr., was seen crying and hugging supporters outside the courtroom.

“He did nothing,” said his father, “but ran and dreamed.”

Ben Crump, lawyer for Arbery’s father, spoke in front of the courthouse and said repeatedly, “The spirit of Ahmaud defeated the lynch mob.”

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, thanked the crowd that had gathered outside the courthouse and said she didn’t think she would see that day.

“It was a long fight. It was an uphill fight. But God is good,” she said. Of her son she said: “He will now rest in peace.”

The McMichaels grabbed guns and jumped into a pickup truck to track the 25-year-old after seeing him run off the port city of Brunswick, Georgia in February 2020, Arber.

The graphic video was leaked online two months later. Although prosecutors did not argue that racism motivated the killing, federal authorities charged them with hate crimes, alleging that they persecuted and killed Arbery for being black. The case is due to be heard in February.

Shortly after they returned to court on Wednesday morning, the jury sent a message to Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley asking them to view two versions of the shooting video – the original and one that investigators enhanced to reduce shadows had – three times each.

The jury returned to the courtroom to watch the videos and again to hear the 911 call one of the defendants made from the back of a pickup truck about 30 seconds before the shooting.

The disproportionately white jury received the case Tuesday lunchtime and spent about six hours deliberating before adjourning without judgment.

The McMichaels told police they suspected Arbery was a fleeing burglar when they armed themselves and jumped into a pickup truck to chase him. Bryan joined the chase when they passed his house and recorded a cellphone video of Travis McMichael blowing up Arbery at close range with a shotgun while Arbery punched and reached for the gun.

On the 911 call that the jury was checking, Greg McMichael said to a telephone operator, “I’m here in Satilla Shores. There’s a black man walking down the street.”

Then he starts screaming, apparently as Arbery runs into the idling McMichael truck while Bryan’s truck appears behind him: “Stop right there! Damn it, stop! Travis!” A few seconds later gunshots can be heard.

The graphical death video was leaked online two months later, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case and quickly arrested the three men. Each of them is charged with murder and other crimes.

Defense attorneys claim the McMichaels attempted to arrest a legal citizen when they set out for Arbery to arrest and question him as a suspected burglar after he escaped from a nearby house under construction.

Travis McMichael testified that he shot Arbery in self-defense.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence that Arbery committed any crimes in the defendants’ neighborhood. He had enrolled at a technical college and, like his uncles, was preparing to study to become an electrician.

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