A jury has just found all three white men involved in the killing of 25-year old Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man jogging in a Georgia neighborhood, of federal hate crimes charges.
“The jury determined Tuesday that Travis McMichael violated Arbery’s civil rights in the fatal chase and targeted him because he was Black,” the Associated Press reports. “McMichael and his father, Greg McMichael, pursued Arbery after seeing him running in their neighborhood outside the Georgia port city of Brunswick. Neighbor William ‘Roddie’ Bryan joined in his own pickup and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael firing the fatal shots.”
CNN’s Jim Sciutto reports all three men have been found guilty of federal hate crime charges:
“All three men were found guilty of violating Arbery’s civil rights by attacking him because of his race, and of attempted kidnapping, capping the latest high-profile trial to probe issues of vigilantism and racial violence in America,” Reuters adds.
All three, MSNBC reports, have been found guilty on all five counts.
“It’s hugely symbolic,” attorney Paul Butler said. “If Mr. Arbery had been white, he would still be alive.”