By Florence Mafomemeh
Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! That was the powerful verdict that echoed multiple times in a court room in Brunswick, Georgia on Wednesday November 24. A jury found three White men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, guilty on multiple murder counts, and other charges.
The verdict which followed eight days of testimony, involving 23 witnesses, came after more than 11 hours of deliberation in two days. It was delivered by nine White women, two White men and one Black man.
Arbery was out jogging through their neighborhood on February 23, 2020 when the three defendants; Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael and their neighbor William Bryan Jr. chased him down and fatally shot him.
This trial gripped the nation as the outcome had to determine where we are as a nation when it comes to racial justice. With a jury of nine white women, two white men and one black man deciding on the fate of three white men, no one was sure what the outcome would be. It turned out the jury did not disappoint. They did not buy the defense’s argument that the three men were conducting a citizen’s arrest and acted in self-defense.
Chants of jubilation broke out outside the courthouse as the verdict was read. Appearing alongside civil rights leaders and Arbery’s family attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump outside the courthouse following the verdict, Arbery’s parents praised the prosecution and supporters who joined the family in the fight for justice for their son, whose killing spurred national outrage and helped cast a spotlight on other racially driven crimes around the country.
Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, who have been in the courtroom throughout the trial heartily thanked the crowd outside with Cooper-Jones saying her son can now rest in peace. “I just want to say thank you guys,” she said. “It’s been a long fight. It’s been a hard fight, but God is good. … I never thought this day would come, but God is good, and I just want to tell everybody thank you, thank you for those who marched, those who prayed.”
Mar’cus Arbery was also grateful for the support. “I want to give all glory to God because that’s who made all this possible. It’s not one side did this. God put us all together to make this happen,” he said.
All Sharpton who has stood by Arbery’s family throughout the protests and trial said the evidence in this case was clear even to white folks. “Let the word go forth all over the world that a jury of 11 Whites and one Black in the Deep South stood up in the courtroom and said, ‘Black lives do matter,’ Sharpton said.
“Let it be clear that almost 10 years after Trayvon (Martin), God used Wanda and Marcus’ son to prove that if we kept marching and kept fighting, we would make you hear us. We’ve got a lot more battles to fight, but this was an important battle today,” he said.
Lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski was also pleased with the verdict. “When you present the truth to people and they can see it, they will do the right thing and that’s what this jury did today,” she said.
Sentencing date for the three men has not been set yet. Prosecutors have indicated they will seek sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, attorneys for the defendants say they plan to appeal.
The outcome of this trial which was closely watched around the country and world had put the nation on edge. Things would have certainly taken a different turn, had the verdict been “Not guilty!”.
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