The Ahmaud Arbery Murder Trial

By Cameron Crawford, Rise Against Hate Research Intern

In November 2021, three white men were convicted of murder for the shooting and death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man. Arbery was jogging through his neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia when the three men began to tail him in a pickup truck. Gregory McMichael (father), Travis McMichael (Gregory’s son), and William Bryan (neighbor) cornered Arbery, began to struggle with him, and Travis shot him with a shotgun.

The McMichaels and their neighbor claimed that they followed Arbery and attacked him because they thought he had committed a crime and they wanted to make a citizen’s arrest.¹ Arbery’s murderers pleaded not guilt to murder charges and throughout the trial their lawyer’s gave testimony that slandered Arbery and spoke to how the McMichaels and their neighbor were trying to “protect” the neighborhood.² However, after a five-week long trial, the McMichaels and Bryan were found guilty of felony murder.³ Additionally, “Travis McMichael was convicted of Malice murder, or intent to kill.”⁴ After just two days of jury deliberations, the jury concluded that all three men would face life in prison, but their sentence is currently still pending and the men still face federal hate crime charges.⁵

This trial was seen as a huge victory by civil rights lawyers and activists throughout the legal realm, especially given that the trial was simultaneously occurring with the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, of which Rittenhouse was acquitted. In Rittenhouse’s case, he crossed state lines from Illinois into Kenosha, Wisconsin with an illegally owned firearm, killing two men and wounding another.⁶

The Arbery trial gained national attention and was followed closely by many, including civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton, who was in the courtroom of the trial.⁷ With a jury of 11 white people and 1 Black man in Georgia, there was concern that racial bias would result in injustice for another Black man brutally killed, as has happened so many times before. However, after a verdict in the Rittenhouse trial that many were confused by and felt was unfair, Arbery’s murderers were brought to justice and face repercussions, proving that there is hope for the future of the criminal legal system. Through recognition of disparities present in society and social advocacy that seeks to better these issues, the United States can strive towards a society that is more equitable and just for all.

References

1. “Factbox: Highlights of the Ahmaud Arbery Murder Trial,” Reuters (Thomson Reuters, November 24, 2021), https://www.reuters.com/world/us/highlights-arbery-murder-trial-2021-11-19/.
2. ​​Tim Craig et al., “Jury Finds All 3 Men Guilty of Murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s Death,” The Washington Post (WP Company, November 24, 2021), https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/24/ahmaud-arbery-trial-verdict/.
3. Tim Craig et al.
4. Tim Craig et al.
5. Tim Craig et al.
6. “Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, Appears in Court on Murder Charges in Shooting of Kenosha Protesters, Stalls Return to Wisconsin,” ABC11 Raleigh-Durham (wtvd, August 28, 2020), https://web.archive.org/web/20200828195107/https://abc11.com/6393188/.
7. “Factbox”