Photo: Getty Images
The jury in the trial of the three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery found all three of the men guilty of murder.
Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan, Jr. were each charged with nine counts each in Arbery's slaying which has been described as a modern-day lynching.
The decision comes after a month of court proceedings, including a lengthy, admittedly discriminatory jury selection process that began October 18.
Video shows the three men ran down the 25-year-old as he jogged along a neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia nearly two years ago, blocking Ahmaud with their trucks before Travis McMichael fatally shot him with a shotgun.
Travis McMichael was found guilty on all nine charges against him. Greg McMichael was found guilty on 8 out of 9 charges; he was found not guilty of malice murder.
Bryan was found guilty on 6 out of 9 charges brought against him; he was found not guilty of malice murder, one count of felony murder, and one count of aggravated assault.
Attorneys for the three men claimed they acted in self-defense after attempting to place Arbery under citizen's arrest, citing a Civil War-era state law which effectively gave anyone permission to capture enslaved Black people. The law has since been removed.
The Road to Justice for Ahmaud
Photo: Getty Images
Ahmaud Arbery was killed on February 23, 2020 in broad daylight. It would be months before a district attorney would draw up charges against the three men captured in cell phone video killing Arbery.
That district attorney, Jackie Johnson, was brought up on her own charges for failing to recuse herself after it was revealed she knew one of the defendants in the case. Before being charged, the community overwhelmingly voted her out of office during the 2020 election.
In April 2021, the three men were indicted on federal hate crime charges for their role in fatally denying Ahmaud's rights to use a public street.
A trial date for these charges is scheduled for February 7, 2022.
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