Ahmaud Arbery was a young black man who was killed while playing sports, suspecting that he was a thief in 2020 in Georgia.
Three white men were sentenced today to life in prison for the murder Ahmaud Arbery, a young African American who was “hunted” and killed with a shotgun while running in 2020 through a neighborhood in the city of Brunswick (Georgia, USA), in a case that sparked a wave of outrage and protests.
Gregory McMichael, 66; his son Travis, 35, and his neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, could still be sentenced to death of being found guilty in a new trial they must face, this time in federal court, to answer hate crimes charges for killing Arbery because he was black.
Glynn County Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley told them sentenced the McMichaels to life in prison without the possibility of parole, while Bryan was given the same sentence but with the opportunity to be released on parole. once you have served at least 30 years of the sentence.
“Ahmaud Arbery went for a run and ended up running for his life,” said the magistrate, who observed a minute’s silence to commemorate the “cruel” murder of the young man.
White majority jury
The McMichaels and Bryans were found guilty on November 24 of last year, after the The jury, made up of eleven whites and a single African American, deliberated for ten hours, in a trial in which some thirty witnesses appeared to testify over almost two weeks.
During the sentencing hearing this Friday, the victim’s parents implored the judge that those guilty of their son’s murder remain in prison for the rest of their lives. “When I close my eyes, I see his execution in my mind, over and over again. I’m going to see this for the rest of my life, ”said Marcus Arbery, the boy’s father.
“Ahmaud never said a word to them, he never threatened them, he just wanted them to leave him alone. (The murderers) were completely committed to their crimes. That they fully commit to the consequences,” asked Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother. de Arbery, visibly shaken.
On the outskirts of the Glynn court, a group of people, mostly African American, celebrated the sentence amid a strong police display.
Video of death
Arbery’s death, which occurred on February 23, 2020, went unnoticed for several months, until a video that Bryan recorded with his cell phone leaked online in early May. and that it showed when the young man was intercepted by the McMichaels, who, after chasing him and cornering him in their truck, shot him at point-blank range with a shotgun.
The investigation then passed into the hands of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), which within days ordered the arrest of the three men, one of whom – Gregory McMichael – was a former Glynn County police officer and an investigator for the Office of the Police. Prosecutor’s Office in the locality.
Before rendering your verdict, the jury asked the judge to show the video of the death again, which became a key piece of evidence during the trial, and also requested to hear the call to the emergency number 911 that the defendants made.
During the trial, the defense argued that the defendants were trying to make a citizen arrest on suspicion that the young man was a thief, since on numerous occasions they claim that they had seen him frequenting a house under construction in the Satilla Shores neighborhood.
Travis McMichael testified that he shot Arbery in self-defense after allegedly attacking him with his fists when confronting him.
The state attorney’s office, however, proved that the 25-year-old never committed any crime and that he was murdered by the McMichaels and Bryans “not because he was a threat to them, but because he did not stop to talk to them.”
Presenting her closing arguments, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said that for the citizen’s arrest to have been legal, the person attempting to execute it must have witnessed a crime, something that never happened.
New law
Arbery’s death prompted the Georgia Legislature to pass a measure criminalizing hate crimes in the state, a bipartisan initiative that was signed into law by the governor, Republican Brian Kemp, who hailed it as a “sign of progress.” .
Although the new law could not be applied in this trial, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office did presented the charges in the new trial that the three inmates will have to face as of February 7, when the jury selection is scheduled to begin.
Arbery’s case joined several others that sparked a wave of outrage and protests in the summer of 2020, including that of the young African-American Rayshard Brooks, who died after being shot by a white police officer in Atlanta, and that of George Floyd. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, died after being arrested by a white officer. (I)
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