A jury has convicted three men charged with felony murder in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery last year in Georgia.
Travis McMichael, his father, Greg and William 'Roddie' Bryan were charged in the February 2020 killing of the 25-year-old Arbery, who they baselessly suspected of criminal activity as the Black man jogged through their Glynn County neighborhood.
A jury in Brunswick, Georgia, deliberated for less than 12 hours before convicting the men on multiple counts of murder. Travis McMichael was convicted for malice murder. All three men were also convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit a felony.
The younger McMichael fatally shot Arbery as the other man grabbed his shotgun during what he describes as a citizens arrest.
"I shot him," McMichael testified during the trial. "He had my gun, he struck me, it was obvious ... that he was attacking me, that if he would have gotten the shotgun from me, then it was a life or death situation."
But prosecutors say the men had no evidence that Arbery had committed any crimes and chased him down in a pickup based on their own false assumptions.
The jury was shown video of Travis and Gregory McMichael pursuing Arbery in their truck, and Bryan chasing him in his own vehicle and filming the scene on his cell phone.
At one point, Arbery attempts to run around the front of the McMichaels' stopped truck.
Travis McMichael, who had gotten out of the vehicle, opens fire with a 12-gauge shotgun. A wounded Arbery is seen struggling with McMichael before being killed by another shot.
Chief prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said Arbery was "under attack" and "ran away from them for five minutes."
Arbery did not have a weapon, and "he's not threatening anybody," she said. "He's just running away.
"They attacked him and shot and killed him," she said. "They can't claim self-defense."
Legal analysts took to cable news and social media with their own commentary about the Arbery trialwww.youtube.com
JUST IN: The jury finds Travis McMichael guilty on all counts in the killing of Ahmaud Arberypic.twitter.com/ogZMVTzT0f— NowThis (@NowThis) 1637779251
UPDATE: The jury finds Greg McMichael guilty in 8 out of 9 counts in the killing of Ahmaud Arberypic.twitter.com/xA5MCOF0Lx— NowThis (@NowThis) 1637779393
UPDATE: A jury also found William Bryan guilty on multiple counts in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, including felony murderpic.twitter.com/i6rXnxaMxi— NowThis (@NowThis) 1637779586
With additional reporting by Bob Brigham and AFP
