Three men have been sentenced to prison for murdering Ahmaud Arbery as he jogged in a neighbourhood in south Georgia.
In February 2020, Greg and Travis McMichael pursued Arbery after seeing him jogging through their neighbourhood in Brunswick. The McMichael’s neighbour, William “Roddie” Bryan, also joined the chase and recorded Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery.
A wave of racial justice protests were held across the United States following the killing of Arbery.
During the trial of Arbery’s death, the McMichaels and Bryan claimed they were acting in self-defence and suspected Arbery – who was unarmed – had been responsible for a burglary in a house which was under construction.
The defendants said they were attempting to make a citizen’s arrest on Arbery, but the prosecution said they had no probable cause to detain the 25-year-old man who was a frequent jogger in the neighbourhood.
Left to right: Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William Bryan
The three men were convicted for the murder of Arbery in November and were sentenced in court today (January 7).
Greg and Travis McMichael were were both sentenced to life without possibility for parole while William Bryan was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.
In court today, Judge Timothy Walmsley said: “Taking the law into your own hands is a dangerous endeavour.”
The three men are now awaiting a second trial in the U.S. District Court on federal hate crime charges which is set to begin next month.
[Image by Michael Scott Milner via Shutterstock]