Arbery’s killers convicted of federal hate crimes

A jury on Tuesday found that racial bias motivated father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan to violate Ahmaud Arbery’s civil rights. The jurors also convicted the McMichaels of using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime. And they found all three defendants guilty of attempted kidnapping and targeting Arbery because he was black. The three men confronted Arbery, who was running in their neighborhood near Brunswick, Ga., and shot and killed him on Feb. 23, 2020. During the trial, prosecutors showed texts and social media posts in which Travis McMichael and Bryan used racial slurs and derogatory remarks about black people. A state-level jury convicted the three men of murder in November.

What was the family’s response? Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery Sr., and his mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, emerged from the courthouse holding hands with their attorney Ben Crump, then raised their clasped hands to cheers from supporters. Cooper-Jones called the ruling a legal win, but she said it will never be enough. The defendants, who were already sentenced to life in prison by the state of Georgia, now await sentencing on the federal convictions.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Sift about the defendants’ state murder trial in November.