Pictured: Marcus Arbery (left) and his attorney Ben Crump (right) speaking to reporters (credit: First Coast News)
The prosecution “conquered that lynch mob,” said Marcus Arbery, father of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed in February 2020. The three men involved in the killing of his son were found guilty of felony murder on Wednesay.
As the jury delivered its first verdict to Travis McMichael, Marcus Arbery cheered. The judge had to eject him from the courtroom. Outside the courthouse, Marcus told reporters that he was “overcome with emotion.”
“I give all glory to God. I thank God. My son got justice.”
In a written statement, President Joe Biden said that “while the guilty verdicts reflect our justice system doing its job, that alone is not enough. Instead, we must recommit ourselves to building a future of unity and shared strength, where no one fears violence because of the color of their skin.”
Republican governor of Georgia, Brain Kemp, said that he hopes the verdicts would allow the United States to “move forward down a path of healing and reconciliation.”
Travis McMichael and his father Greg McMichael, with the help of their neighbour William “Roddie” Bryan, chased Ahmaud Arbery through their south Georgia neighbourhood that February. Greg McMichael later told police they believed Arbery resembled the suspect in a series of break-ins that occured in their neighbourhood. The three men confronted Arbery, before Travis McMichael exited their truck and shot Arbery three times with his shotgun.
Footage filmed from the vehicle behind the McMichael’s truck leaked in May of 2020. The footage showed the events as they developed. According to Atlanta’s WSB-TV, the 36-second clip was released at the request of Greg McMichael. He believed the footage would help justify their actions.
Two days after the footage was released, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested both McMichaels. Two weeks later they arrested Bryan. They faced nine charges including felony murder.
The clip has become an inciting factor in the surge of nation-wide protests and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States that summer.
Prosecutors described the killing as a “modern day lynching.” They argued that racism was a major factor in the way the events unfolded.
The defense argued the three men acted in self-defense. Travis McMichael testified that he believed Arbery was trying to grab his shotgun and had to shoot to protect himself. Travis McMichael later testified that Arbery was not aggressive and never attempted to brandish a weapon against the trio, consistent with police evidence that Arbery was unarmed.
The defense called on a citizen’s arrest law in Georgia that dates back to the American Civil War. This law was repealed in the same month the men were arrested.
The unanimous jury’s verdicts found Travis McMichael guilty of all nine charges, Greg McMichael eight of nine, and William “Roddie” Bryan six of nine. The guilty charges for all three men included felony murder.
The three men will return to court in February of 2022. They face federal hate crime and attempted kidnapping charges brought by the United States Justice Department.
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