Lifelong for three men for the murder of a black jogger
After the perpetrators have already been found guilty, the judge has now announced the sentence. He ruled out early release for two of the men.
Relief and satisfaction in the camp of the murdered jogger Ahmaud Arbery after the verdict in Brunswick.
Foto: James Gilbert (Keystone/24. November 2021)
Less than two years after the murder of the black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in the US state of Georgia, the three white defendants have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Travis M., who shot Arbery, and his father Gregory M. received no parole and an additional 20 years in prison, Judge Timothy Walmsley announced on Friday.
The third accused, William B., was also sentenced to life imprisonment, albeit with the possibility of parole. Gregory M. and William B. were involved in the persecution of Arbery.
A jury had already found the three defendants guilty in November, and the sentence has now been announced. The shooter Travis M., 35, was found guilty of the murder by the jury. The two co-defendants, Travis M’s father Gregory M. (66) and neighbor William B. (52) were found guilty of aggravated assault and manslaughter, among other things. In Georgia, the same sentence applies to murder and various crimes that would correspond to manslaughter under German law.
25-year-old Arbery was shot while jogging in the southern state in February 2020. But initially nobody was arrested. The investigation only really got going when the case gained national and international attention in the spring through a disturbing cell phone video of the crime. A little later – on May 25, 2020 – the African American George Floyd was killed in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Afterwards there were protests against racism and also against police violence in the USA for months.
Cheering after convictions
After the convictions, cheers broke out in front of the Brunswick courthouse, in front of which supporters of the Arbery family had gathered. The people shouted: “Say his name – Ahmaud Arbery.”
“It was a long fight, it was an uphill fight,” said Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, outside the courthouse. Well-known civil rights activist Al Sharpton said the guilty verdicts showed that “the lives of blacks matter”. Black Lives Matter is the motto of anti-racism protests in the United States.
President welcomes the verdict
US President Joe Biden welcomed the verdict, but stressed that the US still had a long way to go in the fight against racism. “The convictions show that our judicial system is doing its job, but that alone is not enough,” said the president. The US must “build a future of unity and shared strength, in which no one is afraid of violence because of the color of their skin.”
His administration will work to ensure that equal treatment before the judiciary for all American citizens becomes a “reality,” said Biden. Vice President Kamala Harris – the first African American woman in office – also stressed that the US still had “work” ahead of it.
Arberys in one Video captured death had caused outrage and horror in the past year. The now convicted men had followed the African American on February 23, 2020 in a suburb of Brunswick with two cars. They believed the 25-year-old jogger was a burglar and cited a Georgia law at the time that allowed citizens to arrest suspects.
–Justice for the shot jogger: A family supporter demonstrates in the city of Brunswick.
Foto: James Gilbert (Keystone/24. November 2021)
A video recorded by Bryan shows 35-year-old Travis McMichael and his 65-year-old father blocking the path of running Arbery with their pickup truck. An argument breaks out between Travis McMichael, who is armed with a rifle, and Arbery. The African American is then hit by several gunshots to the ground. Travis McMichael later protested in court that he acted in self-defense because Arbery attacked him.
Much explosive in the turbulent summer of 2020
The case was politically charged: Arbery’s death – together with the death of the black George Floyd in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis in May 2020 – led to the nationwide anti-racism protests in the summer of last year. There was outrage that the judiciary only became active against the three white men when the video of the incident became public months later. Most recently, there was criticism that there was only one black jury member on the twelve-person jury.
