Arbery’s killers are sentenced to life in prison; no parole for father, son
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BRUNSWICK, Georgia – Three white men convicted of murder for pursuing and killing Ahmaud Arbery were sentenced to life in prison on Friday, with a judge denying any possibility of parole for the father and son who armed themselves and launched the murderous pursuit of 25- year-old black man.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley ordered Greg and Travis McMichael to serve life without parole for the fatal shooting in Arbery and granted their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, a chance to ” get parole after serving at least 30 years in prison.
“Ahmaud Arbery was hunted down and shot, and he was killed because individuals here in the courtroom did justice themselves,” the judge said before handing down the sentence.
Walmsley said Arbery left his house to jog and ended up running for his life for five minutes as the men chased him in vans until they finally corner him. The judge paused for a minute of silence to help understand what that period must have been like for Arbery.
“When I thought about this, I thought from many different angles. I kept coming back to the terror that must have been in the mind of the young man walking through Satilla Shores, ”he said, mentioning the area outside the port city of Brunswick where Arbery was killed.
Murder carries a mandatory life sentence under Georgian law, unless prosecutors seek the death penalty, which they opted against in this case. Walmsley’s main decision was to grant a possible chance for parole.
At the sentencing hearing, Arbery’s family asked the judge not to show any leniency.
Arbery’s sister recalled his humor, describing him as a positive thinker with a great personality. She told the judge that her brother had “sun-glistening” dark skin, thick, curly hair and an athletic build, factors that made him a target for chasing men.
“These are the qualities that made these men assume that Ahmaud was a dangerous criminal and pursue him with guns. To me, these qualities reflected a young man full of life and energy who looked like me and the people I loved, ”said Jasmine Arbery.
Arbery’s mother said she suffered intense personal loss made worse by a lawsuit where the men’s defense was that Arbery made bad choices which led to his death.
“It was not a mistaken identity or a mistaken fact. They chose to target my son because they didn’t want him in their community. They chose to treat him differently from other people who frequently visit their community, ”said Wanda Cooper-Jones. “And when they couldn’t scare or intimidate him enough, they killed him.”
The judge’s sentences corresponded to the recommendation of prosecutor Linda Dunikoski. She said everyone deserved the life sentence for showing “no empathy for the trapped and terrified Ahmaud Arbery”.
Claiming that the McMichaels still believed they had done nothing wrong, Dunikoski revealed on Friday that Greg McMichael gave a cellphone video of the shooting recorded by Bryan to a lawyer, who leaked it.
“He believed it would exonerate him,” the prosecutor said.
Robert Rubin, one of Travis McMichael’s defense attorneys, argued that his 35-year-old client deserved the possibility of parole. He said Travis McMichael only opened fire after “Mr. Arbery came up to him and grabbed the gun. But Rubin also acknowledged that his client’s decisions to arm and hunt Arbery were “reckless” and “reckless.”
“They are not proof of a soul so blackened that it deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison,” Rubin said. “It wasn’t a planned murder. It was a brawl over a gun that led to Mr. Arbery’s death.
Greg McMichael’s lawyer Laura Hogue said his client had no intention of dying, never having fired his gun until his son had fired his shotgun.
“Greg McMichael did not leave his home that day hoping to kill,” Hogue told the judge. “He didn’t see his son shoot that shotgun with anything other than fear and sadness. What this jury found was that it was an unintentional act.
Bryan’s attorney said he exhibited remorse and cooperated with police, turning video of the shooting on cell phones to help them uncover the truth.
“Sir. Bryan is not the one who brought a gun,” Kevin Gough said. “He was unarmed. And I think that reflects his intentions.
Bryan is 52 years old, which increases the chances that he will spend the rest of his life in prison even with the possibility of parole after serving 30 years.
The guilty verdicts against the men handed down the day before Thanksgiving sparked a victory celebration outside the Glynn County courthouse for those who saw Arbery’s death as part of a larger national calculation on the racial injustice.
The three men were also convicted of aggravated assault, forcible confinement and a criminal attempt to carry out forcible confinement. Travis and Greg McMichael were each sentenced to an additional 20 years for aggravated assault.
The McMichaels seized guns and jumped into a van to chase Arbery after seeing him running around their neighborhood on February 23, 2020. Bryan joined the chase in his own truck and recorded a video on the phone Travis McMichael’s laptop firing short-range shotgun blasts into Arbery as he threw punches and grabbed the gun.
The murder went largely unnoticed until two months later, when the graphic video leaked online and sparked a nationwide uproar. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took the matter back to local police and quickly arrested the three men.
Defense lawyers have announced their intention to appeal the convictions. They have 30 days after conviction to drop them off.
Next month, the McMichaels and Bryans will face a second trial, this time in U.S. District Court, on federal hate crime charges. A judge has set the jury selection to begin on February 7. Prosecutors will argue that the three men violated Arbery’s civil rights and targeted him for being black.
Arbery’s killers are sentenced to life in prison; no parole for father, son
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