Three men convicted in Ahmaud Arbery’s murder to be sentenced

(BRUNSWICK, Ga.) — The three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery are set to be sentenced on Friday.

A Georgia jury in November, after deliberating for about 11 hours, convicted the three white men of chasing and fatally shooting Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was out on a Sunday jog in February 2020.

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Arbery’s family, spoke in a press conference before the sentencing, calling the guilty verdict “an awakening in America.”

“What we pray for is that this is a new, precedent in America that harkens back to the words written in 1776 when we say we hold these truths, that all men are created equally,” Crump said. “We pray that we see that same spirit in a sentence of these killers, this lynch mob. We want to make sure that they don’t get a slap on the wrist.”

Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, thanked the community for their support.

“I just want to say thank you all for standing with us to give justice for Ahmaud,” Cooper-Jones said at the press conference. “I really don’t have much to say this morning. But the day has finally come … The day that my family and I have prayed for has come.”

Travis McMichael, 35, delivered the deadly shot and was convicted on all nine charges: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a shotgun, aggravated assault with a pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.

His father, Gregory McMichael, 65, a former Georgia police officer, was found not guilty of malice murder but was convicted on the remaining charges, including the felony murder counts.

The McMichaels’ neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, 53, was found guilty of three felony murder counts as well as charges of aggravated assault with his pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.

All three had pleaded not guilty to the nine-count state indictment. Each faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The three men also have been indicted on federal hate crime charges, and all have pleaded not guilty. Jury selection for that trial is set to begin Feb. 7.