GLYNN COUNTY, Georgia, Nov. 24, 2021 (UPI) — A Georgia jury on Wednesday found three men guilty of murder for killing Ahmaud Arbery last year.
The verdict came after about 9 hours of deliberations over the course of two days.
Travis McMichael fired the shot that killed Arbery while he was out for a jog Feb. 23, 2020. He and his father, Greg McMichael, and neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, chased down Arbery in their pickup trucks, boxing him in before the younger McMichael fired the fatal shots.
They each faced a single count of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Travis McMichael was convicted on all charges, Gregory McMichael was convicted of all but the malice murder charge, and Bryan was convicted of all but malice murder and one count of felony murder.
Closing arguments
In closing arguments on Monday, defense attorneys argued that the three men had carried out a lawful “citizens arrest,” believing that Arbery was a “recurring intruder” in the Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood when he was shot.
Prosecutors sought to argue that the men’s actions did not constitute a lawful citizens arrest because they never actually witnessed Arbery committing a crime. Instead, they contend, the men decided to attack him because “he was a Black man running down the street.”
McMichael said as much on the witness stand last week, saying that he felt it was a matter of “life or death” when he reached for his gun to shoot Arbery. He claimed that Arbery attacked him and reached for his rifle.
The attorney for Bryan argued that his client did not contribute to Arbery’s death, even though he and the other two were chasing him.
Lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski attacked the defense’s assertion that the men had “probable cause” stop Arbery “based on gossip and rumor” of a serial neighborhood intruder.
“The bottom line (is) they assumed he must have committed some crime that day because he’s running real fast down the street. They did not call 911. They wanted to stop him and question him before they called 911,” she said.
Dunikoski said the three men “created the situation” and tried to justify Arbery’s death with claims of a danger that did not exist. Arbery, she said, never threatened anyone.
Rittenhouse case
The verdict in the Arbery case follows that of another high-profile homicide case in Kenosha, Wis., where Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on Friday on several criminal counts for killing two men and wounding a third during unrest last year over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
