Arbery’s parents appeared alongside civil rights stalwarts outside the courthouse following the verdict. They praised the prosecution and supporters who joined the family in their fight for justice for their son, whose killing drew national outrage and helped cast a spotlight on other racially driven crimes around the country.
• Travis McMichael, who fatally shot Arbery, is guilty on all charges: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony;
• His father, Gregory McMichael, who rode armed in the bed of a pickup as his son pursued Arbery, is not guilty of malice murder but guilty on the other eight charges.
• And William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., a neighbor who joined the pursuit and filmed Arbery’s final moments, is guilty of three counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony. Bryan was cleared on the charge of malice murder, felony murder involving aggravated assault with a firearm and the count of aggravated assault with a firearm.
Their attorneys have said they will appeal.
Introduced by the Rev. Al Sharpton and civil rights attorneys S. Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, heartily thanked the crowd. Ahmaud Arbery can now rest in peace, Cooper-Jones said.
“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.”
She later told CNN’s Jim Acosta that the verdict “means a lot. It means that my prayers have been answered.”
It was a very good day, she told Acosta on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
“To hear that the accused murderers were actually found guilty, I mean, that was huge,” she said. “We finally got the justice for Ahmaud that he…
Source : cnn
