Ahmaud Arbery.Photo: Facebook
Racism drove three white men to chase down Ahmaud Arbery, a Black jogger, leading to a confrontation in which one of the men fatally shot him, according to a jury that found all three guilty of attempted kidnapping and interference with Arbery’s civil rights rights in a federal court Tuesday morning, one day before the two-year anniversary of his death.
All three men — Gregory McMichael, 66, his son Travis McMichael, 36, and their neighbor William Bryan, 52 — already are serving sentences of life in prison following their conviction last fall on state charges of murder in the case.
They now face additional federal sentences of life in prison.
Arbery, 25, was killed Feb. 23, 2020, after beingchased while joggingon a public street in Brunswick. The three white men believed he matched the description of a possible burglar, according to their defense, and pursued and confronted Arbery, with Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery during an ensuing struggle over Travis' shotgun.
The federal hate crimes trial put the victim’s race front and center, in a way the earlier murder trial did not.
A federal indictment last April alleged all three men “used force and threats of force to intimidate and interfere with Arbery’s right to use a public street because of his race,” andcharged eachwith one count of interference with rights and one count of attempted kidnapping.
The indictment also charged Travis and Gregory McMichael with one count each of “using, carrying, and brandishing — and in Travis’s case, discharging — a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.”
From left: Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William Bryan.Octavio Jones-Pool/Getty (2); Stephen B. Morton-Pool/Getty
“I ask you to hold these defendants accountable,” said Perras, according to theTimes. “Not only for what they did but why they did it.”
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A lone witness who testified for the defense, neighborhood resident Evelyn “Lindy” Cofer, said she tracked crime in the area as a member of a Facebook group, and previously had made a report that a man might be living under a bridge at the community’s entrance, reportedThe Washington Post. Defense lawyers played audio of a call in which Gregory McMichael reported the same man to police, to suggest he was regularly watching for unusual activity in the neighborhood.
In a rebuttal of that tesimony, Tara Lyons, a member of the prosecution team, said in her closing, “That white guy from under the bridge is — whoever he might be — is presumably still alive,” according to theTimes. “Ahmaud is not.”
J. Pete Theodocion, a defense attorney for Bryan, said his client joined the chase because he assumed it was warranted, not because of Arbery’s race. “His instincts told him people do not get chased like that … unless they’ve done something wrong,” he said, reports theTimes.
The lawyer for Travis McMichael, Amy Lee Copeland, said her client was only acting in self-defense and not out of racial animus when he shot Arbery.
“Would Travis McMichael have grabbed a gun and done this to a white guy?” she asked, reported theTimes. “The answer is yes.”
Travis McMichael, who pulled the trigger and shot Arbery three times, previously was convicted on one count of malice murder, which alleges intent to kill; four counts of felony murder, which alleges an action that causes a death; two counts of aggravated assault; one count of false imprisonment; and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony.
Gregory McMichael was cleared of the malice murder charge, but found guilty of all the others. Bryan was cleared of malice murder and one felony murder charge, as well as one of the aggravated assault charges. But Bryan was found liable for all the other charges.
All three currently are serving time in a Georgia state prison. The three men will be sentenced on the federal charges at a later date.
source: people.com
