BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The three men responsible for Ahmaud Arbery’s murder were found guilty Tuesday morning of federal hate crimes, closing another chapter in his family’s two-year struggle for justice.
The verdict was reached just before 10 a.m. after less than four hours of deliberations by a jury of eight white people, three Black people and one Hispanic person. It came a day before the two-year anniversary of Arbery’s slaying.
The convictions are viewed as a victory for the U.S. Justice Department, which has made prosecuting hate crimes a priority.
Unlike last year’s murder trial, federal prosecutors centered their case on race. Numerous witnesses testified about the three white defendants’ vile comments and bigoted attitudes toward Black people. The prosecution successfully argued that Travis McMichael, 36, his father Greg McMichael, 66, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, targeted Arbery because he was Black.
Several jurors were visibly emotional as the clerk read the guilty verdicts on all five counts of the federal indictment. The foreperson, a Black social worker, wiped tears from his eyes.
Outside the courthouse was a scene of jubilation as Arbery’s parents addressed news cameras. Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, called it “Super Tuesday.”
“I want to say thank you to everybody who stood by us during this fight for justice for Ahmaud,” she said. “It’s been a very long, stressful fight.”
Cooper-Jones praised the Justice Department for bringing the federal hate crimes charges but criticized prosecutors for striking a plea deal with the McMichaels before the trial.
During an emotional pretrial hearing on Jan. 31, U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, after hearing protests from Arbery’s family, declined to accept a binding plea agreement that would have required her to impose 30-year prison sentences against the father and son. Wood gave the McMichaels two days to decide whether they wanted to enter their guilty pleas to a hate crime but allow her to decide their punishment. They declined.
“What the (Justice Department) did today, it was made to do today,” Cooper-Jones said. “It wasn’t because of what they wanted to do. They were made to do their job today.”
The defendants face possible life sentences for the hate crimes convictions. Wood has yet to schedule a sentencing date.
At a press conference in Washington, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said “hate crimes have a singular impact because of the terror and fear that they inflict on entire communities. … No one should fear that if they go out for a run they will be targeted and killed because of the color of their skin.”
Arbery should still be alive today and his family should be preparing to celebrate his 28th birthday this spring, not mourning the second anniversary of his killing, the attorney general said.
“The defendants’ actions and the racism that fueled them have inflicted enduring trauma on Mr. Arbery’s family, his friends, his community and communities across the country,” Garland said.
When asked about Cooper-Jones’ criticism of the Justice Department’s recommended plea deal, Garland became emotional, at times catching his breath.
