In mid-2020, yet another video of a Black person’s death disseminated across the internet. This time, it was 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. On Feb. 23, 2020, two white men — former county police investigator Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael — stalked, confronted, and killed Arbery while he jogged through a suburban Georgia neighborhood. While Arbery’s death prompted immediate protests, it took several months for the video of his murder to leak and spark a new cycle of outrage.
The renewed attention came amidst a surge of nationwide uprisings that flowed out of Minneapolis following George Floyd’s murder. So, the criminal justice system raced to act. Last year, Gregory; Travis, who shot Arbery; and William Bryan, a family friend who filmed the attack, were found guilty of murder. Then last month, a judge sentenced the trio to life, with only Bryan having the possibility of parole.
