Ahmaud arbery, a Georgia murder victim, was killed by Ahmaud’s father and his son.
A jury consisting of eleven white jurors, and one black juror, deliberated for hours before arriving at a decision.
Travis, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan are now facing decades in prison due to the death Arbery. He was a 25-year old Black man who was going for a jog in February 2020.
There’s one significant change that came out of Arbery’s tragic death, though: a change in the law.
The perpetrators argued they were carrying out a citizen’s arrest under a Civil War-era Georgia law.
After Arbery’s death, it was revoked.
Gregory McMichael’s son Travis and William McMichael became involved in the pursuit of Arbery at Satilla Shores, Georgia. “Roddie”Bryan was eventually charged with nine crimes, including malice murder and felony murder.
They pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Glynn county jury in Georgia began deliberations Tuesday. The jury pondered for over 10 hours and returned a complex final judgement.
Travis McMichael who shot Arbery, was convicted on all nine counts.
The joy in the Arbery’s family was palpable when the verdict was read out in courtroom. They compared Ahmaud’s death to a “modern-day lynching.”
Check out how others responded to justice being served:
The three men took off in pursuit of Arbery claiming to attempt a citizen’s arrest of the young man because they believed he was responsible for recent break-ins around the neighbourhood.
It was discovered that the McMichaels knew that Arbery wasn’t being accused of any crime during the trial.
Citizen’s arrests in the US have a deep history, with a strong link to the enslavement of African Americans.
Georgia’s Citizen’s Arrest Law was repealed in May of this year.
It was the last. version, which was passed by the Georgia legislature in 2010 and signed into law, said, in part, “If the offense is a felony and the offender is escaping or attempting to escape, a private person may arrest him upon reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion.”
Gregory McMichael was with his son Travis in the same truck and was equipped both with a pistol & a shotgun. He was acquitted for malice murder, but was found guilty of all other charges.
Bryan, their next door neighbour, joined the chase in his truck and recorded the event on his phone. Bryan was acquitted on malice murder and one charge of felony killing, but he was convicted of three additional counts of felony murdered.