The three men convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery's fatal shooting in Georgia, in the United States, have been found guilty of federal hate crimes.
The verdict — handed down one day before the second anniversary of Arbery’s death on February 23, 2020 — came just months after all three defendants were convicted of murder in a Georgia state court and sentenced to life in prison.
But family and community members viewed the hate crimes trial as an important statement. The case also became part of a larger national reckoning on racial injustice after graphic video of Arbery’s killing leaked online.
Arbery was jogging down a street in the southern Georgia city of Brunswick in February 2020 when he was pursued by three men and killed with a shotgun.
Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and neighbour William "Roddie" Bryan — who were only charged two months later when a video of the incident emerged — were convicted by a mostly white jury in November 2021 with the 25-year-old's murder.
On Tuesday this week, a federal jury found the trio violated Arbery's civil rights in the fatal chase and targeted him because he was black.
During the trial, prosecutors showed roughly two dozen text messages and social media posts in which Travis McMichael and Bryan used racist slurs and made derogatory comments about black people.
The McMichaels and Bryan had pleaded not guilty to the hate crime charges.
'It hurts me everyday'
Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery Sr, bowed his head and shook his fists in quiet celebration as the guilty verdicts were read in the courtroom.
He then pressed his hands together in front of his face as if saying a silent prayer.
Outside the courtroom he noted that his son used to call every day, even if just to tell his family that he loved them.
"Ahmaud was a kid you can't replace, because of the heart he had," he said.
"I'm struggling with that every day. It hurts me every day."
Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, also spoke outside the courthouse after the verdict.
"It's Super Tuesday. We got a guilty verdict on all charges, on all murderers and all levels," she said, but added that it was not a victory.
Plea agreement denied
The courtroom victory came only because the family fought a plea agreement the Department of Justice (DOJ) was willing to accept, Ms Cooper-Jones said.
During a court hearing in Brunswick, US District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood accepted a guilty plea by Travis McMichael to a hate crimes charge.
The agreement would have locked her in to sentencing McMichael and his father, who was supposed to plead guilty next, to 30 years in federal custody.
But after hearing pleas from Arbery's family, Judge Wood refused to accept the terms of punishment.
She then gave Travis McMichael and his father, Greg, until Friday to decide whether to continue with their guilty pleas or stand trial.
Outside the courthouse today after the guilty verdicts were delivered, Ms Cooper-Jones said: "You guys (DOJ) accepted a plea deal with these three murderers who took my son's life, even after the family stood before the judge and asked them, asked the judge to not take this plea deal."
"I told the DOJ that, yes, they were prosecutors, but one thing they didn't have, they didn't have a son that was lying in a cold grave, and they still didn't hear my cry."
AP
