In the case of the shot black man Ahmaud Arbery, the verdict has been reached in the USA. The three perpetrators received long prison terms. Another process is waiting for them.
Brunswik – About two years after the murder of the black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in the US state of Georgia, the three perpetrators have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Judge Timothy Walmsley announced the sentence against the white men convicted by a jury in November 2021 on Friday (07.01.2022) in Brunswick.
The now 35-year-old Travis McMichael, his father Gregory and their neighbor Wiliam Bryan had followed Arbery with their cars on February 23, 2020 in a suburb of Brunswick. They mistook the area, which is mostly inhabited by whites, for a burglar. A scuffle broke out as part of the persecution. Travis McMichael shot the 25-year-old black man with a rifle.
After the murder of black jogger Ahmaud Arbery: Court in the USA awards life imprisonment
Following the murder, Travis and Gregory McMichael received life sentences with no early release option. In the case of her 52-year-old neighbor Wiliam Bryan, the judge recognized attenuating circumstances. Therefore, this person has the chance of early release from prison. However, this is only possible after he has served 30 years of his prison sentence.
Ahmaud Arbery’s death was “a tragedy on many, many levels,” said Judge Timothy Walmsley when delivering the verdict. “He left his house to go jogging and ended up running for his life,” said the judge. “He was killed because people here in this courtroom took the law into their own hands.” Taking the law into your own hands is “a dangerous undertaking”.
USA: Black man’s murder no coincidence – “Didn’t want him in their community”
Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper-Jones asked the judge at the hearing on Friday (January 7th, 2022) for the maximum sentence for the convicted. “These men deserve the maximum sentence for their crimes,” said Cooper-Jones. It wasn’t a misunderstanding. “They decided to target my son because they didn’t want him in their community. When they couldn’t scare or intimidate him enough, they killed him, “the Guardian quotes Arbery’s mother. The three men would have lynched his son in daylight, said Marcus Arbery, the father of the murdered in the process.
USA: The murder of Black Ahmaud Arbery is known only late
The murder of Arbery was only known more than two months after his death when a cell phone video of the chase and fatal shooting was made public by Bryan. The recordings caused outrage across the country. Arbery became a symbol of the Black Lives Matter protests against racism in the United States, along with blacks killed by police officers such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
There was also outrage that the public prosecutor initially left the perpetrators unmolested. That changed only after the cell phone video of the murder became known in early May 2020. The three men were only then arrested and charged.
USA: Black Jogger’s murderers appeal
In the murder trial of the black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, the three perpetrators referred to a law in force in Georgia at the time that allowed citizens to arrest suspects. Gunman Travic McMichael testified that Arbery attacked him while attempting to arrest him. He therefore shot in self-defense.
Life imprisonment with early release is the minimum penalty in Georgia for willful murder or murder related to another crime. The three men can still appeal the verdict. Yet another trial is still ahead of them: at the federal level, they are charged with a hate crime. The process will start in February 2022. (Max Schäfer with AFP)
