BRUNSWICK, Ga. (KNX) — A federal jury in Georgia on Tuesday has found all three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery guilty of hate crime charges as well.
The defendants, father and son Greg and Travis McMichael, and their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, were accused of chasing Arbery through their Georgia neighborhood in trucks. The trio cornered him, with Travis McMichael firing the shot that killed the 25-year-old victim with a shotgun.
Both McMichaels and Bryan walked free for several weeks following the incident. They were only arrested after video Bryan recorded of the shooting was released and the case was taken over by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
All three were convicted of murder and given life sentences in the state trial. Now, they have been found guilty of federal hate crimes after the jury reviewed what prosecutors described as a history of racial bias among them.
Witnesses called included an FBI analyst who reviewed the three defendants' social media and messaging histories, identifying messages, videos, and memes that appeared to indicate strong racial bias against Blacks, and included racist comments and slurs in text messages.
The defense contended the messages were taken out of context.
Arbery's mother, Wander Cooper Jones, still has a federal lawsuit pending against the McMichaels and Bryan. Her suit also named Glynn County police officers, the former chief of police, and former D.A. for Glynn County, as well as the original prosecutor on the state murder case.
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