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A jury in Georgia has reached a verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery trial, finding all the defendants guilty on various charges.
“Jurors found Travis McMichael guilty of murder Wednesday for chasing and fatally shooting Ahmaud, a 25-year-old Black man, as he jogged last year through a neighborhood in Glynn County, Georgia,” CNN reported.” McMichael now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The other defendants including Gregory McMichael, Travis’ father, and Williams ‘Roddie’ Bryan, were also found guilty of murder.
Arbery, 25, who was not armed, was fatally shot in a neighborhood near the city of Brunswick in Glynn County, Ga., He was chased by the McMichaels, who were armed and driving a pickup truck, and Bryan, who followed Arbery in a second vehicle.
As the confrontation began, Travis exited his vehicle with a shotgun, and the two began a physical altercation, during which time Travis shot Arbery.
Following police interviews noted that Gregory initiated the pursuit after seeing Arbery run past his house and suspected him of committing theft in nearby Satilla Shores. However, there has never been any evidence introduced suggesting he took anything though there is video of him entering a property under construction.
Police testimony indicated that Bryan told police that he saw the chase and decided to join in, but said he was not sure that Arbery had done anything wrong. Arbery had entered the house that was under construction on five separate occasions over the course of five months including one time shortly before he was shot.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested the McMichaels on May 7 and Bryan on May 21, charging them with felony murder, as well as other crimes.
Earlier, Kimberly Cummings Arbery, 55, of Townsend, Ga, said in an interview with Fox News that her family wanted justice.
“It has been torture,” she commented outside the courthouse. “A piece of my heart left that day.”
She went on to say of the deliberation process: “It surprises me it has taken so long.”
Cummings Arbery had also brought a few gallons of strawberry lemonade Wednesday in honor of her nephew, Fox News reported.
“He was crazy about my lemonade,” said Kenya Thomas, Arbery’s aunt, 46, of McDonough, Ga. who added that she came to support her family. She also recounted that she attended some of her nephew’s high school games.
“He loved that football just like he jogged and ran he tore that football field up,” she said.
Eric Terrell, vice president of the National Action Network, a civil rights group, also came to hear the verdict.
“We might get justice and we might not so I pray we get justice,” he said. “The jury has to take their time.”
Fox News added:
Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump gathered with approximately 100 protesters outside the Glynn County Courthouse on Wednesday morning, according to Fox News’ Rebecca Rosenberg.
Crump successfully represented George Floyd’s family earlier this year. He has also represented Treyvon Martin and Michael Brown. Sharpton gave a eulogy for Floyd in June of 2020.
Before they reached a verdict, the “12-person jury on Wednesday asked to replay three versions of the same video three times each and listen to a 911 call from suspect Gregory McMichael, Judge Timothy Walmsley said,” Fox News reported.
“The jury’s requests came Wednesday morning as protesters gathered outside the Glynn County Courthouse, awaiting a verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery case.”
The network also reported on threats being made ahead of the verdict by other civil rights groups.
Black Lives Matter protesters chanting “shut it down” if there isn’t “justice” for Ahmaud Arbery told Fox News they will march peacefully if the men accused of murdering him are not convicted of all charges.
“We just want them to do the right thing,” Michael Harris from North Carolina noted.
