Ahmaud Arbery murder: 3 men found guilty of murder

• Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery dead, is guilty of all charges: murder with malicious intent, four counts of murder, two counts of assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit a crime;

• His father, Gregory McMichael, who was armed in bed in a pickup as his son chased Arbery, was not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of eight other charges.

• And William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., a neighbor who joined the chase and filmed Arbery’s final moments, was guilty of three counts of murder, one count of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit a crime. Bryan was acquitted of malice murder, felony homicide involving assault with a firearm and multiple counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.

Introduced by the Reverend Al Sharpton and civil rights attorneys S. Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, expressed their deepest gratitude to the audience. Ahmaud Arbery can now rest in peace, Cooper-Jones said.

“I just wanted to say thank you guys,” he said. “It’s a long fight. It’s a tough fight, but God is good. … I never thought this day would come, but God is good, and I just want to tell everyone thank you, thank you to those who lined up, praying people.”

Marcus Arbery added, “I want to give all the glory to God because that’s what made all this possible. … No one party did this. God brought us all together to make it happen.”

Sharpton prayed with the crowd and declared in his trademark zeal, “Let word spread around the world that a jury of 11 whites and one black man in the Deep South stood in the courtroom and said, ‘Black lives matter.’

“Let it be clear that almost 10 years after Trayvon (Martin), God is using sons Wanda and Marcus to prove that if we keep marching and keep fighting, we will make you hear us. We have more battles to fight, but this is important battle today.”

Defense lawyer indicated that they will appeal

Sentencing dates for McMichaels and Bryan are unclear. Prosecutors have indicated they will seek life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

After the verdict, Laura Hogue, an attorney for Gregory McMichael, told her client’s tearful wife that she was “given an uppercase F” and plans to appeal the case after sentencing.

Robert Rubin, who represents Travis McMichael, said he also plans to appeal. He described his client as stoic and said he held back his reaction after the verdict. Co-adviser Jason Sheffield insisted McMichaels thought their actions that day were the “right thing to do” and said he was disappointed and saddened by the result.

“We also recognize that this is a day of celebration for the Arbery family,” said Sheffield. “We can’t take our eyes off their feelings about this, and we understand that they feel they got justice today. We respect that. We respect that because we respect this jury trial system.”

McMichaels and Bryan have been indicted on federal hate crime charges and are scheduled to stand trial in February on rights interference and attempted kidnapping charges. McMichaels each faces additional charges of using, carrying, brandishing, and using a firearm during and in connection with a violent crime. The men pleaded not guilty.

Arbery’s mother has filed civil charges against McMichaels, Bryan and police and prosecutors officials.

The men said they believed Arbery had committed a crime. Evidence introduced in the trial showed people chasing Arbery in the streets as she repeatedly tried to avoid them. McMichaels, who was armed, was in one vehicle, while Bryan, who joined as the chase was ongoing, followed in his own truck, assisting and filming the chase. Arbery was unarmed and on foot.

The murder video shows Travis McMichael getting out of his truck and confronting Arbery before fatally shooting him as the two tussle. McMichael’s father watched from the bed of the truck.

The men pleaded not guilty, with McMichaels claiming they made the arrest of the citizen and acted in self-defense, and Bryan saying he did not take part in the murder.

Arbery was jogging — a common hobby, according to those who knew her — when the McMichaels grabbed their gun and chased after him. Gregory McMichael, a former police officer and former investigator at the prosecutor’s office, told authorities that Arbery and his son had been fighting over his son’s rifle and Travis shot Arbery after he was attacked, according to police reports.

On the stand, Travis McMichael echoed his father’s claim that he acted in self-defense after Arbery took his rifle. Cross-examined by prosecutors, Travis McMichael admitted that he had told investigators he did not know whether Arbery had taken the gun and that neither he nor his father had mentioned the arrest of the citizen to the police. His father and Bryan refused to testify.

Travis McMichael said he was “scattered”, traumatized and “mixed up” hours after the shooting, offering an explanation for his inconsistency.

Two prosecutors initially instructed Glynn County police not to make any arrests in the case, but about two months after the shooting, a video of Bryan’s murder was made public, sparking national outrage.

Part of a national protest

McMichaels was arrested May 7, 2020, and Bryan was arrested two weeks later. This case soon coincides with the murders of three black people — Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta — doubling the anxiety over racial injustice and civil unrest across the country.

The father and son believed Arbery was responsible for a series of recent robberies in the neighborhood, Elder McMichael told police, but Glynn County police said there was only one reported robbery in the roughly two months prior to the shooting. In that incident, a gun was stolen from an unlocked vehicle at McMichaels’ home.

Gregory McMichael also suspects Arbery to be inside the house under construction, he said, but the homeowner told CNN he had surveillance cameras and didn’t see Arbery committing any crimes. He didn’t ask McMichaels to take any action on his behalf, he testified at the deposition.

Travis McMichael also admitted that he had never seen Arbery armed and never heard Arbery threaten him. Instead, Travis McMichael testified, Arbery refused to respond and showed no interest in speaking.

A state investigator testified during a preliminary hearing last year that Bryan and Travis McMichael used racial slurs on social media and messaging services, and that Bryan told police he heard Travis McMichael use racial epithets after killing Arbery. Evidence of slurs was never presented to the jury.

“I believe Mr. Arbery was being chased, and he ran until he couldn’t run anymore, and that it was either his back to a man with a rifle or fighting barehanded against a man with a rifle. He chose to fight,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Richard Dial told reporters. trial of probable cause June 2020.

The jury’s makeup is a source of contention

Having only one Black juror has been a major complaint from prosecutors and the Arbery family, as Glynn County’s population is approximately 69% White and 27% Black.