AHMAUD ARBREY’S KILLERS FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN FEDERAL HATE CRIME TRIAL
The three men who shot Ahmaud Arbery as he went for his morning jog in a Georgia neighborhood were charged. Travis McMichael, his father Greg McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were found guilty on all counts.
The panel of jurors consisted of three black, eight white, and one Hispanic person. The defendants were found guilty on all five separate federal charges. The first two charges had federal hate crime status, while the other three included kidnapping and firearms. The jury deliberated the judgment for four hours over two days. The defendants were charged for their heinous act with a life sentence.
The family members of Ahmaud Arbery showed immense resilience and courage throughout the trial. The case was under the leadership of U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine. She successfully proved that Arbery was indeed attacked due to his race. He argued that this crime wouldn’t have happened if Ahmaud was a white man out jogging.
The case’s core question was whether racism was the center of the defendants’ motives for their criminal acts. However, Travis McMichael’s attorney pleaded to the claims because no black witness was called to testify against the defendant’s racism. Pete Theodocion, who acted as attorney for Bryan, tried to clarify his distinction from the other two defendants. According to him, Bryan was convinced that Arbery had been involved in something wrong and thus went after him for the sake of the law.
The prosecutor made the point that Ahmaud was seen as much less than a human by the defendants, which is why they committed this act. Also, after he was attacked and bleeding, they did not feel any humanity or remorse.
Arbery’s mother thanked the Department of Justice for presenting the case well. She was grateful that the verdict had been given finally, as the whole period had been very draining for h
