(CN) — The three white men convicted last year of murdering Ahmaud Arbery are also guilty of violating the 25-year-old jogger’s civil rights and targeting him because he was Black, a Georgia jury decided on Tuesday after about four total hours of deliberations in the federal hate crimes trial against the men.
Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery twice at close-range with a shotgun, was found guilty on all counts, including interference with rights, attempted kidnapping and brandishing and discharging a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. His father Greg McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” were also convicted on all charges.
The jury – which was comprised of eight white people, three Black people and one Hispanic person – reached its decision on the eve of the second anniversary of Arbery’s death.
The convictions carry possible life sentences, which would be added on to the life sentences already handed down to all three men for Arbery’s murder by a state court judge in January.
After the verdict was announced, Arbery’s mother and father joined hands with family attorney Benjamin Crump outside the courthouse and raised their arms to the sky in a moment of celebration.
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, addressed a crowd of supporters, saying, “Ahmaud will continue to rest in peace. But he will now begin to rest in power.”
Cooper-Jones suggested that the verdict was achieved in spite of decisions made by federal prosecutors, who offered a plea deal to the McMichaels which was ultimately rejected by U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood after Arbery’s family made statements in court vehemently opposing it.
“We wouldn’t have gotten here today except for the fight that the family put up,” Cooper-Jones said. “We got a victory today, but there are so many people who don’t get victories.”
In a brief press conference Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland did not respond directly to Cooper-Jones’ criticisms of the Department of Justice but made remarks empathizing with Arbery’s family for the “enduring trauma” they have suffered.
“I cannot imagine the pain that a mother feels to have her son run down and gunned down while taking a jog on a public street,” Garland said. “My heart goes out to her and to the family. That’s really I can say about this.”
Arbery was jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia, less than 2 miles from his own home on Feb. 23, 2020, when the McMichaels and Bryan began chasing him in their pickup trucks. Throughout the state and federal trials, defense attorneys have repeatedly argued that the men pursued Arbery not because of his race but because they believed he had committed burglaries in the area or stolen items from a nearby construction site.
There has never been any evidence presented in court that Arbery stole anything.
After a five-minute chase, in which Arbery tried several times to run away from the trucks, Travis McMichael exited his vehicle and pointed his 12-gauge Remington shotgun at Arbery.
Bryan filmed part of the chase on his phone and captured the moment McMichael fired three shotgun blasts at Arbery as the two tussled for control of the gun. Two of the shots hit Arbery in the chest and shoulder, killing him in the street.




