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Ahmaud Arbery’s convicted killers Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan were found guilty Tuesday in their federal hate crimes trial.
The three white men were previously charged with interference with rights and attempted kidnapping.
Both McMichaels were also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
During the trial, it was revealed that Travis, the gunman convicted of murdering Arbery, previously and repeatedly used racist language in text messages and shared a video of a white supremacist singer with friends. It was also revealed that William “Roddie” Bryan’s phone showed evidence of him previously using racial slurs to describe black people. The FBI was not able to unlock Gregory McMichael’s iPhone, however, they said they were able to retrieve some messages from his online phone backups.
25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was killed in Feb. 2020, by three close-range shotgun blasts after the McMichaels chased him in a pickup truck as he was running through a suburban neighborhood of Brunswick, Ga. A video that captured the incident leaked in May 2020, sparking a national outcry.
In November 2021, the three men were convicted on a number of charges, including felony murder in the slaying of the black jogger. This January, Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. William “Roddie” Bryan was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland commented on the case Tuesday.
Attorney General Garland on Ahmaud Arbery's mother: "I cannot imagine the pain that a mother feels, to have her son run down and gunned down while taking a jog down a public street. My heart goes out to her and to the family." pic.twitter.com/DbehIKmOnh
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 22, 2022
“I cannot imagine the pain that a mother feels to have her son run down and then gunned down while taking a jog on a public street. My heart goes out to her and to the family. That’s really all I can say about this,” Garland said. “No one should fear if they go out for a run they will be targeted and killed for the color of their skin.”
