2/22/22, 8:31 PM Ahmaud Arbery's killers found guilty of hate crimes offences | CBC News

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Ahmaud Arbery's killers found guilty of hate

crimes offences

Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, William Bryan previously convicted of

murder in high-profile slaying

The Associated Press · Posted: Feb 22, 2022 11:08 AM ET | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

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2/22/22, 8:31 PM Ahmaud Arbery's killers found guilty of hate crimes offences | CBC News

Wanda Cooper-Jones, mother of Ahmaud Arbery, addresses the media on Tuesday outside the federal courthouse
in Brunswick, Ga. The three men convicted of murder in Arbery's fatal shooting in February 2020 were found guilty
of federal hate crimes and other offences. (Lewis Levine/The Associated Press)

The three men convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery's fatal shooting were
found guilty of federal hate crimes Tuesday for violating Arbery's civil rights and
targeting him because he was Black.

The jury reached its decision after several hours of deliberation — and almost
exactly two years to the day Arbery was killed — on the charges against father
and son Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbour William (Roddie) Bryan.

In addition to the federal hate crimes, the three men were each found guilty of
attempted kidnapping, while the McMichaels were also found guilty of the use of
a firearm in the commission of a crime.

Shortly after the verdict was read, Arbery's parents emerged from the
courthouse holding hands with attorney Ben Crump, then raised their clasped
hands to cheers from supporters.

"Ahmaud will continue to rest in peace. But he will now begin to rest in power,"
said Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones. But, she added, "We as a family will
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never get victory because Ahmaud is gone forever."

Marcus Arbery 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."

This photo combo shows, from left, Travis McMichael, William (Roddie) Bryan, and Gregory McMichael. Last
month, the three men were given life sentences for the murder of Arbery, 25. (The Associated Press)

During the trial, prosecutors showed roughly two dozen text messages and
social media posts in which Travis McMichael and Bryan used racist slurs and

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made derogatory comments about Black people. The FBI wasn't able to access
Greg McMichael's phone because it was encrypted.

The McMichaels grabbed guns and jumped in a pickup truck to pursue Arbery
after seeing him running in their neighbourhood outside the Georgia port city of
Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own pickup and
recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael firing the fatal shots.

Arbery's killing became part of a larger national reckoning on racial injustice

after the graphic video leaked online two months later.

'Ahmaud Arbery should be alive today'

The McMichaels and Bryan pleaded not guilty to the hate-crime charges.
Defence attorneys contended the three didn't chase and kill Arbery because of
his race but acted on the earnest, though erroneous, suspicion that Arbery had
committed crimes in their neighbourhood.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the verdict "makes clear that the
Justice Department will continue to use every resource at its disposal to confront
unlawful acts of hate and to hold accountable those who perpetrate them."

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A mural of Ahmaud Arbery is shown on the side of The Brunswick African American Cultural Center in
downtown Brunswick, Ga., on Oct. 19, 2021. Arbery's killing sparked a national outcry and has seen three men
convicted in separate state and federal trials. (Octavio Jones/Reuters)

Garland said at Arbery's family and his friends "should be preparing to celebrate
his 28th birthday, later this spring, not mourning the second anniversary of his
death tomorrow."

"Ahmaud Arbery should be alive today," he said.

The trial closed Monday with prosecutors saying 25-year-old Arbery's slaying on
a residential street was motivated by "pent-up racial anger," revealed by the

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defendants' electronic messages as well as by witnesses who testified to hearing

them make racist tirades and insults.

"All three defendants told you loud and clear, in their own words, how they feel
about African Americans," prosecutor Tara Lyons told the jury Monday.

Evidence included texts, previous statements

Defence attorneys insisted that past racist statements by their clients offered no
proof they violated Arbery's civil rights and targeted him because he's Black.
They urged the jury to set aside their emotions.

"It's natural for you to want retribution or revenge," said Pete Theodocion,
representing Bryan. "But we have to elevate ourselves … even if it's the tough
thing."

3 men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery sentenced to life in

prison

Prosecutors say men who killed Ahmaud Arbery were 'looking for a
reason' to hurt a Black man

The three men already received life terms in state court last month after being
found guilty in November of murder and other crimes in the fatal shooting of
Arbery, a onetime high school football star who worked for a truck-washing
company and his father's landscaping business.
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WATCH | Defendants hear their sentence last month in state murder trial: 

3 men convicted of Ahmaud Arbery's murder sentenced to life in prison

2 months ago | 2:11

The three white, Georgia men convicted of killing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery have been sentenced to life in
prison. 2:11

Police found Arbery had no weapon and no stolen items. Prosecutors said he
was merely out jogging.

FBI agents uncovered roughly two dozen racist text messages and social media
posts from the McMichaels and Bryan in the years and months preceding the
shooting.

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Some witnesses testified they heard the McMichaels' racist statements firsthand.

A woman who served under Travis McMichael in the U.S. Coast Guard a decade
ago said he called her a racist term after learning she'd dated a Black man.

Another woman testified Greg McMichael had ranted angrily in 2015 when she
remarked on the death of civil rights activist Julian Bond, saying, "All those Blacks
are nothing but trouble."

With files from Reuters

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