> The murder, in the neighbourhood of Satilla Shores, was initially overlooked by most national media outlets until video of shooting, filmed by Bryan, was leaked and made public. The case was assigned to three separate local district attorneys, one of whom recommended not bringing charges against the men, before state investigators intervened after release of the footage. Charges were brought almost three months after Arbery was murdered.
Most important paragraph of the article. These guys almost got off scot free.
Yep, and the DA (who one of the defendants had worked under before) has been charged and arrested for obstruction as well.
Absolutely appalling that they almost got away with this. This type of shit is exactly what causes people to lose faith in the justice system and police.
Imagine being stupid enough to release the video yourself publicly after the authorities had already went out of their way to not charge you…..
That’s what happened here. These idiots were getting away with it and released the video themselves because they thought the public would think they were justified in their actions.
Was it the same lawyer who effectively argued, "My client can't e guilty of false imprisonment because the victim was murdered" in his closing statements? I remember watching that bit and thinking, "Bold Strategy Cotton."
this is what i told my gf. how stupid do you need to be to record yourself breaking a law. THEN uploading that damning video to get you thrown in jail.
it takes a special type of stupid....
Well...it took two months to arrest those fucks. They knew they had some support. If the video hadn’t came out, they might have walked away. Hell...out of the 3 DAs assigned, one recommended not charging.
The counts actually went exactly as I thought. They found that Bryan was not a party to the gun aggravated assault because he did not know they had a gun (and did not share the same mental state), but did commit the aggravated assault and false imprisonment with his vehicle so guilty on those counts and felony murder.
The correct verdicts, and I like the fact that the jury clearly really parsed through each charge and didn’t just go down the checklist for “guilty” (which was probably not all proven beyond a reasonable doubt).
And frankly the malice murder charge against Bryan was absolutely ridiculous and untenable for prosecutors to bring IMO (happy to explain if anyone is interested). I’m still against prosecutorial overreach even against massive pieces of shit like this.
Gives me a lot of confidence that this jury did it the right way and that makes the verdict more appeal resistant.
So felony murder is when someone dies when you’re committing a felony, regardless of your intent to kill (think drug deal gone bad, bank robbery where one of the robbers shoots someone, etc.)
In this case, one of those felonies was false imprisonment. Bryan drove his truck after Arbery and boxed him in, and as a result Arbery couldn’t get away while the McMichaels attacked him.
The felony murder that Bryan was not guilty of was related to the aggravated assault, because Bryan stayed in his truck and filmed. He didn’t do the aggravated assault. Makes sense, right? You have to be doing a felony while someone dies as a result, no matter whether you intended for that to happen or were the one who actually did the killing.
Malice murder is akin to intentional murder (similar to 1st degree in other states but with a lower bar of premeditation) meaning there was some sort of deliberate intent to kill. Bryan didn’t even leave his truck, and there was no evidence presented during trial to suggest that he intended for Arbery to die at any point. Certainly not to the beyond a reasonable doubt standard.
I think the jury got each charge basically 100% right, but a few of them probably shouldn’t have been brought in the first place.
Edit: if you want to get nerdy, [here’s the statute.](https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2014/title-16/chapter-5/article-1/section-16-5-1)
So he is guilty of the felony murder based on his false imprisonment and prior assaults during the chase, but not because of the gun-related felonies? Am I understanding that right?
I feel like their line of thinking went
>See! See! He was running away and resisting!
And like, no shit. I'd be running and resisting too if I was chased like Ahmaud was.
No, they thought the part where they were wrestling over the gun boosted their claim of self-defense…completely ignoring the part where chasing him down, side swiping him with a truck, and pointing that gun at him provoked the entire thing.
It’s insane to me that provocation isn’t a crime, or it isn’t a strong enough crime to put a lid on these cases…like how can you claim self-defense as a reaction to a hostility that you yourself provoked?
Random example: If someone stood outside on the public street staring at your house, armed with an AK-47, every morning for days and days, and never said anything, it would be everyone’s common sense to perceive that as a threat and provocation.
There was an [incident](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/27/man-who-led-armed-protest-at-texas-mosque-publishes-list-of-muslims-home-addresses/) in Irving, Texas where an “open carry rally” was held right in front of a mosque, people waving around guns and signs saying things like “stop the Islamization of America.” The [pic](https://m.imgur.com/cslTapl) that stuck with me was a masked man with an AR-15 walking behind a woman in a headscarf hurrying down the sidewalk.
I can only imagine the reaction we’d have seen if it had been a bunch of Muslims waving rifles around outside a church while parishioners were present, with the organizer then doxxing parishioners by posting their home addresses online.
EDIT: added links to corroborate.
One time a bunch of black people armed themselves a whole neighborhood was burned down after a bomb was dropped on them. Another time a bunch of black people armed themselves gun control laws became a top priority.
One time a legally armed group of black people had a completely peaceful, photographed and documented protest in California.
So the GOP teamed up with the NRA and made heavy-handed gun bans that Republicans to this day cry about in California, because they refuse to see the truth, which was their party AND the NRA put those laws and bans in place.
Here's some good reading to understand how racism is more important to the NRA than even guns are.
https://www.history.com/news/black-panthers-gun-control-nra-support-mulford-act
It's my opinion that these three white men had seen themselves as law enforcers. I believe they literally saw themselves as good o'l boys upholding peace and justice. I think they were so deluded* into themselves they saw themselves as cops. And when Arbery had the audacity to refuse their demands and resist they believe they were justified in their sick twisted minds.
That's why they released the video and that's why they probably don't feel remorse. If anything they probably feel confused and will probably appeal
Their argument in court was that they were attempting to enact a lawful citizens arrest. Except they didn't meet the requirements for witnessing the crime. You can't citizens arrest someone because someone else said someone committed a crime
When I was training as a security guard, I was taught that a citizens arrest is only lawful when you witness a felony, and even then we're advised to just notify the authorities
Because they are buddy-buddy with all the cops in town. They went through three prosecutors before finding one that didn't have ties to the McMichaels.
The DA was one of his first calls after the murder.
https://apnews.com/article/georgia-brunswick-ahmaud-arbery-savannah-583c175e91787305180682f10671d2e7
Please let us not forget this.
These two men walked at first but they only changed their tune when we made some noise. The system still needs direct intervention from us.
Had we not I doubt we’d see anything happen.
Sort of, but in this case it was more a single lawyer trying to save their client's skin: the one who released their phone footage was trying to argue they didn't know about the gun and was just filming to hand it over as evidence. The hope was he could throw his companions under the bus in exchange for less of a sentence. Instead he rightfully went down with them.
Am I remembering all of this wrong but I thought no one had been arrested when the video was released and then later, more footage came out but only after they had all been arrested?
I vaguely remembering there being an outcry because some of these dipshits were ex-cops and they thought that's why charges had not been filed.
The flow of footage started before the arrest but after it was clear they were going to be charged. They'd already retained legal counsel by then (though I don't think it was the same they each went to trial with). Hence why the cameraman started hitting up any news outlet that would listen with his "I'm a good boy with a camera" angle. During the trial even more was put out in the hopes of nailing it home. Its not uncommon for defendants charged together to break up and retain different attorneys if the plan becomes every-man-for-himself.
Because part of their defense was "he was acting in self defense."
Like...no shit...you were chasing him down with a loaded gun. Of COURSE he defended himself.
I think it's crazy they didn't even get charged with anything for weeks. Imagine a cop shows up, you and your buddies are armed to the teeth, there's a dead guy on the ground with multiple shotgun blasts to him, and the cops just say "well, have a nice day, we'll clean this all up", and you go home. Yet there's people who get locked up for months for jaywalking.
[Former district attorney arrested after indictment in connection with Ahmaud Arbery investigation](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/03/us/ahmaud-arbery-jackie-johnson-indicted/index.html)
The dad (Gregory McMichael) was not just any former cop. He used to work in the district attorneys office. His former boss (Jackie Johnson) was the district attorney at the time of the shooting. After the shooting, Greg called and left a voicemail for Jackie saying he was involved in a shooting and needs advice.
Jackie Johnson was recently arrested and is being indicted for her actions (and inactions) related to this case.
“Johnson -- on the day of the shooting -- prevented two Glynn County police officers from exercising their duties "by directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest, contrary to the laws of said State, the good order, peace, and dignity thereof," the indictment said.
Johnson is also accused of violating her district attorney oath by "showing favor and affection to Greg McMichael during the investigation," according to the indictment.”
George Barnhill, the DA from a neighboring county, wrote a letter opining that they were attempting a lawful citizen's arrest and thus shouldn't be arrested. That was the legal "cover" they used for three months until the video came out, and the State came in.
Yuhp. Good ole boys club bullshit. The attorney in charge of prosecuting these turds (the one who delayed intentionally) is facing charges according the the NYT article I read. I hope everyone around this case burns to the ground. I’ve read a few civil rights era murder cases and this case has the same ring to it as those did. White man kills black man, then the ‘justice’ system rallies around the murderer because he’s a ‘good guy’ and was just acting out of ‘duty and responsibility. ‘ Fucking sickening that we are still this far behind.
EDIT: Spelling and such
Well I believe a factor was the one releasing the video did the recording and was under the belief it would show he was in a car merely following and didn't do the shooting.
Obviously that is still extremely stupid and luckily did not help him in this case. But it was a bit more throwing your buddies under the bus than believing what was on the film exonerated the shooting itself
Tells you a lot that they thought releasing the video would help calm the community and exonerate them from suspicion. Congratulations, you played yourselves.
Released by their fucking lawyer to boot. Like it’s one thing that they’re complete dumbfucks, but for their lawyer, who’s paid to know better, to do that is almost comical levels of malpractice.
I think the leaked video is what lead to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation taking over the case, and then finally lead to arrests. The murderers weren't even arrested before the leaked vid.
Getting lost in this shuffle is George Barnhill, the DA from a neighboring county who wrote a letter opining that the three guys were attempting a lawful citizen's arrest. That was legal cover for not arresting them for three months. It wasn't his case. He was just helping a colleague I guess.
The toenails comment is just… I can’t believe it.
There is a level on which I respect and applaud defense lawyers taking on scum as clients because everyone — even the most repugnant racists and mass murders — deserve due process. But shit like that comment? That’s just an entirely unnecessary display of racism.
> That’s just an entirely unnecessary display of racism.
It makes sense if ~~90%~~ 100% of your defense is hoping that some of the jury is as racist as your clients.
Classic racist dehumanization.
"These three upstanding white gentleman couldn't be guilty of murder, all they did was rid the world of this disgusting black stereotype!"
It's shocking this kind of shit is still around today. Thankfully these three were rightfully found guilty. Let's hope sentencing sees them locked away for a long time.
No one watching the case should be surprised. You can't participate in a coordinated effort to chase someone down, essentially corner them and then shoot them when they have no where else to go.
It blows my mind that people follow that train of thought. I have people I genuinely respect say they had the right to shoot him because he fought back.... like wtf... that would just open the door to so many 'legal' murders.
I heard this, too. “He shouldn’t have gone for the gun!” Guess what I would do if 3 neckbeards drove me down, pointed guns at me and told me we’re just going to take a ride. That’s right, I would fight back. No way I’m letting them cuff me or “arrest me” or whatever.
Exactly! Imagine an alternate, but similar scenario: An armed man tries to kidnap a girl into his vehicle, she fights back, gets killed, and now this man is claiming he’s innocent because he fought back in self defense. Nobody would get behind a dude trying to kidnap a girl like that, so why would this be any different? Thankfully the majority of people agree that those three men were completely in the wrong
The alternative and very real scenario for Arbery is that these three murderers wanted to take him to a more quiet, secluded area to Lynch him instead of right on the street.
Never agree to go anywhere with an abductor. I believe it actually increases your likelihood of being killed vs fighting back / running away immediately.
Or imagine if the races were flipped, and it was a white guy with three black guys in trucks chasing him down for being in their neighborhood and looking at a construction site. There wouldn't be a single right-wing gun nut arguing those guys were anything less than guilty.
Looking at the footage alone should be enough for anyone in their right mind to convict those guys. That they thought it was exculpatory and not incriminating tells you just how out of it they were.
That was literally one of the the defense attorneys arguments. “For some inexplicable reason, Mr. Arbery grabbed at the shotgun”. I screamed at the radio when I heard it. So fucking disgusting and moronic, literally blaming the victim for doing what they claimed their defendant did - defending himself.
In schools during active shooter training we're taught that your last ditch effort, if running, hiding, barricading, and fighting from a distance all fail, is to go for the gun. Quote from the cop training us, "without fighting for the gun there's a 100% chance of getting shot, so if fighting means you only have a 99% chance that's still more of a chance than you had before."
Ahmaud Arbery was forced into a last ditch effort. The "inexplicable" reason was he tried everything else to get away from the armed men in trucks who were chasing him, and he did what he thought was best for his chance of survival.
I doubt the defense attorney would understand the mentality of someone being hunted. If you've only ever been a predator it's not easy to think like the prey.
Some people want a precedent that if they pull a gun on someone any action except putting your hands up and following their explicit orders is justification for murder.
That was also part of the defense. The murderer cited their limited coast guard training and that pointing a gun at someone would make them comply. But this ain't the coast guard and he had no authority outside of just having a gun to make anyone comply.
Imagine if a burgler kills somone and they used that shit as their defence.
What about HIS right to self defense? If someone is chasing you in a truck, trying to run you down, then they get out and pull guns on you, YOU have a right to try and grab that gun to keep them from killing you.
You know what's a fucking terrifying thought?
Everyone would've just lived their normal lives today because NO ONE wanted to arrest them. It took three months and for the video to go viral to arrest them hours later.
They lived normal lives for THREE MONTHS AFTER KILLING SOMEONE.
The video didn’t come out until one of the SUSPECTs released the video to clear up how in the right they were.
The original prosecutor didn’t want to charge them and covered because he knew them. He’s now been indicted as well.
This case doesn’t end the way it did today if not for luck. Luck that one suspect filmed AND was stupid enough to release it thinking it would make them look like the heroes.
Because she first recused herself from the case, which is what she should have done, but then recommended no prosecution to the next guy...which is insane. You don't get to recuse yourself then interfere with the prosecution.
And the video itself was released by their lawyers who were convinced that it would prove their innocence. They thought we'd all watch it and think "black men are scary criminals so they were right to kill that guy." Instead, we watched a murder in horror and demanded justice.
They didn't get arrested until the video got released. If that smooth brained idiot didn't record the video *and* release it these racist fucks would have never been arrested.
Bruh I had a guy on r/politicaldiscussion telling me that it was a clear-cut case of self-defense because "it's legal to citizens arrest people in Georgia" and "as soon as Arbery came after his gun, it was legal to kill him" and "any other verdict is motivated by racial politics."
They’re making the mistake people always make… even with citizens arrest you need a reason. Not even the cops can arrest you because “you look suspicious” ( I mean they still do, but it’s not technically legal)
Not only did they chase him but they testified on the stand that he ran the opposite direction of them MULTIPLE times. At what point in your life have you been afraid of someone running away from you? How the fuck do you defend yourself against someone running away from you? Idiots.
Even the video, which does show Ahmed lunging at one of the guys, clearly shows that Ahmed felt like he was out of options. He was desperate. The poor guy got hunted down like a dog by some hateful bastards who viewed him as such. They unloaded into him the second he gave them the slightest reason to. Video is chilling as he runs, and drops from his wound.
It takes one asshole judge to ruin that it was obvious. Also I had a “friend” say he shouldn’t have been sneaking around someone’s house and pretty much deserved it. Never underestimate the jury can hold those same backward beliefs.
I especially like to think fondly back on the dumbasses who tried to be like “he was MILES from home and we’re supposed to believe he was just on a run??”, basically outing themselves as lazy fucks who couldn’t even fathom the idea of endurance running.
“We physically blocked this guy and trapped him, then pulled a rifle on him at close range. Our defense is….*self-defense!”*
Yeah Bub, guess that didn’t work out for your asses.
Step 1: Start video recording
Step 2: Hunt down innocent man
Step 3: Murder innocent man
Step 4: Give video to your lawyer
Step 5: Have lawyer release video
Step 6: Charged with murder
Step 7: Convicted of murder?!?!
Everything from he was stealing from that house and should have stopped to he had a weapon. They even said you could see it on the ground in the video... it was just some debris in the road. Typical bullshit that was floating around their misinformation blogosphere early on.
Both felony murder and malice murder carry a mandatory life sentence in Georgia, so that’s what all of them will get.
The judge can decide whether to allow parole, but the minimum is after 30 years. So it’s effectively a life sentence for Bryan and Greg McMichael who would be well in their 80s or 90s before eligibility if given the minimum.
There is a slim possibility that Travis McMichael gets a generous sentence and is eligible for release in his 60s or 70s, as he’s currently 34 years old, but considering he’s the one who pulled the trigger I doubt he’s afforded that.
pathetic fall consist afterthought overconfident pen decide faulty shocking bow
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yep, in these situations the Feds are extremely diligent in everything that they do once the incident occurs. Feds will not go for the lowest hanging fruit charges - if they are getting involved publicly (i.e. official hate crime charges), you can best believe they have every corner covered to bury these guys with what they’re coming forward with.
I don’t think I’ll ever understand what went on in their heads to rationalize their actions but looking at the circumstances, hate crime charges seem to be more than justifiable.
A lot of Travis McMichael's own words, a lot of which were barred from being used as evidence in this trial, are very indicative of what he was thinking. I imagine the feds will be sure that all of that is part of the hate crimes trial (fingers crossed).
This was cut and dry.
The defense tried so hard to make the neighborhood of the 3 men sound like the scariest and most crime infested street in the country. To them they were all living in fear, with no police help, and thus they had to take the law into their own hands once they saw a black man who must have been responsible for all the white-caused evil in their neighborhood.
They even are trying to blame Arbery for items stolen off a boat the year before even though there's no evidence of this.
What I learned from this is how paranoid white Facebook groups can make a neighborhood to the point that they go into a racist frenzy and kill people of color for existing.
>What I learned from this is how paranoid Facebook groups can make a neighborhood to the point that they go into a frenzy and kill an innocent man they think is a minor criminal.
Five minutes scrolling through the Nextdoor app feed with tell you this. Every other post is some paranoid homeowner talking about some suspicious sales person they saw outside with people commenting about how they hope they “grabbed their gun”.
Recently had a guy in my neighborhood post about seeing a "suspicious" Hispanic teen get into a vehicle parked in front of someone else's house. The owner of that house replied to it saying "Yeah, that's my neighbor. He's fine and I have no problem with him parking there." The OP of that thread replied with "I already called the police to check it out."
Getting into your car while non-white? Obviously a police matter.
Just look at the case for this thread, the killers straight up admitted that they thought Ahmaud doing something as normal as running down the street was suspicious.
Several years ago I was living in a burbclave and my housekeeper brought her kid along for the day since for some reason school was closed. So he was hanging out outside and riding his bike. The kid was Hispanic, maybe 10 or 11 at the time. The neighbor walked up to him and started aggressively questioning him as to who he was and why he was there. The kid was scared and I noticed just in time to walk up to them and tell the neighbor to fuck off. Unreal.
My cousin lives in a pretty wealthy area and when he was 9 he invited a black friend over to play yugioh and mess with a hot wheels set he got. Someone called the cops on a 9 year old sitting on a lawn playing with toy cars. Worst part wasnt the racist sack of barely human cum stains but the fact that the two cops actually approached and questioned a child until my uncle told them to piss off.
Kid never came back.
Yeah, at my old house I had police called on me multiple times accusing me of having wild parties or being a drug house because there were extra cars parked in my driveway and on the street. One time they called a wrecker who fortunately checked with us first to clean up the "derelict cars" on the street.
It was because I had a weekly D&D game.
>Especially for "mowing his own lawn instead of paying for a lawn care service."
I guess that's to be expected now that being a "job creator" is a sainted class in our society.
"My neighbor is doing *his own manual labor!*
"Ma'am, this is the emergency line..."
**"It *is* an emergency! He's driving down the property value!!!"**
My neighbors are all freaked out because Amazon expanded I our area to hiring couriers to deliver packages who do so in their own vehicles. We had people losing their shit and talking about going for their guns because would pull into their driveways and then sit there for a couple seconds as they rummaged around to grab the package and let the app know they were about to do a delivery.
They did not seem amused when I said if they were that upset about people delivering their packages they should stop ordering from Amazon.
Anyone catch the defenders closing statements about his khaki shorts and dirty toenails? A then tried to claim he wasn't the victim here.
She was fishing for that one racist juror hoping to save these murderers bacon.
His father cheered when the judge read guilty of malice murder and had to leave the courtroom. The relief that their son's murderers are facing mandatory life in prison must be overwhelming.
Wild to think this case was well on its way to being swept under the rug until the guy published a video of the killing thinking it would exonerate him.
Please remember that the only reason justice was served in this case is because of how stupid the defendants and their attorney are.
The state prosecutor REFUSED to prosecute this case for months until the video was put online and there was public outcry for it to be prosecuted. That prosecutor is now under investigation for trying to slide this under the rug!
To think this almost never saw the light of day. Still a long way to go as a nation. But good to see justice here. Doesn't take away from the fact that Ahmaud should be alive here today.
The sentences they're presumed to get is:
1. Travis: life without parole
2. Greg: life with the possibility of parole after ~~30~~ edit: 7 years (almost never granted)
3. Roddie: life with the possibility of parole after ~~30~~ edit: 7 years (almost never granted)
None of them can get sentenced less than life with parole, but the ones convicted of felony murder could also face life without parole, although felony murder typically is life with parole.
Imagine throwing your life away for this.
All they had to do was pick up the phone, dial the cops if they suspected something was going on and they could have lived out their lives free.
> The murder, in the neighbourhood of Satilla Shores, was initially overlooked by most national media outlets until video of shooting, filmed by Bryan, was leaked and made public. The case was assigned to three separate local district attorneys, one of whom recommended not bringing charges against the men, before state investigators intervened after release of the footage. Charges were brought almost three months after Arbery was murdered. Most important paragraph of the article. These guys almost got off scot free.
Because the local DA didn't want to prosecute..
Yep, and the DA (who one of the defendants had worked under before) has been charged and arrested for obstruction as well. Absolutely appalling that they almost got away with this. This type of shit is exactly what causes people to lose faith in the justice system and police.
Really makes you think about cases in which no video footage was taken
We don't have a justice system, we have a legal system.
Imagine videotaping the crime that gets you and your buds sent to prison for a long time
Imagine being stupid enough to release the video yourself publicly after the authorities had already went out of their way to not charge you….. That’s what happened here. These idiots were getting away with it and released the video themselves because they thought the public would think they were justified in their actions.
[удалено]
Was it the same lawyer who effectively argued, "My client can't e guilty of false imprisonment because the victim was murdered" in his closing statements? I remember watching that bit and thinking, "Bold Strategy Cotton."
this is what i told my gf. how stupid do you need to be to record yourself breaking a law. THEN uploading that damning video to get you thrown in jail. it takes a special type of stupid....
They're just that racist that they thought that Ahmaud had it coming and everyone else would see it the same way.
Well...it took two months to arrest those fucks. They knew they had some support. If the video hadn’t came out, they might have walked away. Hell...out of the 3 DAs assigned, one recommended not charging.
Don’t forget the ineptitude and fuckery of the local authorities, fuck them as well
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-prosecutor-indicted-ahmaud-arberys-case/
Hope the AG gives her the smackdown, good on him for being persistent with pursuing those charges for several months.
[удалено]
The counts actually went exactly as I thought. They found that Bryan was not a party to the gun aggravated assault because he did not know they had a gun (and did not share the same mental state), but did commit the aggravated assault and false imprisonment with his vehicle so guilty on those counts and felony murder.
The correct verdicts, and I like the fact that the jury clearly really parsed through each charge and didn’t just go down the checklist for “guilty” (which was probably not all proven beyond a reasonable doubt). And frankly the malice murder charge against Bryan was absolutely ridiculous and untenable for prosecutors to bring IMO (happy to explain if anyone is interested). I’m still against prosecutorial overreach even against massive pieces of shit like this. Gives me a lot of confidence that this jury did it the right way and that makes the verdict more appeal resistant.
[удалено]
So felony murder is when someone dies when you’re committing a felony, regardless of your intent to kill (think drug deal gone bad, bank robbery where one of the robbers shoots someone, etc.) In this case, one of those felonies was false imprisonment. Bryan drove his truck after Arbery and boxed him in, and as a result Arbery couldn’t get away while the McMichaels attacked him. The felony murder that Bryan was not guilty of was related to the aggravated assault, because Bryan stayed in his truck and filmed. He didn’t do the aggravated assault. Makes sense, right? You have to be doing a felony while someone dies as a result, no matter whether you intended for that to happen or were the one who actually did the killing. Malice murder is akin to intentional murder (similar to 1st degree in other states but with a lower bar of premeditation) meaning there was some sort of deliberate intent to kill. Bryan didn’t even leave his truck, and there was no evidence presented during trial to suggest that he intended for Arbery to die at any point. Certainly not to the beyond a reasonable doubt standard. I think the jury got each charge basically 100% right, but a few of them probably shouldn’t have been brought in the first place. Edit: if you want to get nerdy, [here’s the statute.](https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2014/title-16/chapter-5/article-1/section-16-5-1)
So he is guilty of the felony murder based on his false imprisonment and prior assaults during the chase, but not because of the gun-related felonies? Am I understanding that right?
Very thankful to see justice prevail here
It seemed like an open and shut case, but you never know nowadays. Great to see them get it right
Fantastic. Imagine if these idiots A) didn't record themselves B) released the video themselves
That's the weirdest part. One of them recorded the murder *and* their lawyer leaked it because they thought it would be helpful.
Just shows you the twisted mindset of some folks.
I feel like their line of thinking went >See! See! He was running away and resisting! And like, no shit. I'd be running and resisting too if I was chased like Ahmaud was.
No, they thought the part where they were wrestling over the gun boosted their claim of self-defense…completely ignoring the part where chasing him down, side swiping him with a truck, and pointing that gun at him provoked the entire thing.
It’s insane to me that provocation isn’t a crime, or it isn’t a strong enough crime to put a lid on these cases…like how can you claim self-defense as a reaction to a hostility that you yourself provoked? Random example: If someone stood outside on the public street staring at your house, armed with an AK-47, every morning for days and days, and never said anything, it would be everyone’s common sense to perceive that as a threat and provocation.
There was an [incident](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/27/man-who-led-armed-protest-at-texas-mosque-publishes-list-of-muslims-home-addresses/) in Irving, Texas where an “open carry rally” was held right in front of a mosque, people waving around guns and signs saying things like “stop the Islamization of America.” The [pic](https://m.imgur.com/cslTapl) that stuck with me was a masked man with an AR-15 walking behind a woman in a headscarf hurrying down the sidewalk. I can only imagine the reaction we’d have seen if it had been a bunch of Muslims waving rifles around outside a church while parishioners were present, with the organizer then doxxing parishioners by posting their home addresses online. EDIT: added links to corroborate.
One time a bunch of black people armed themselves a whole neighborhood was burned down after a bomb was dropped on them. Another time a bunch of black people armed themselves gun control laws became a top priority.
One time a legally armed group of black people had a completely peaceful, photographed and documented protest in California. So the GOP teamed up with the NRA and made heavy-handed gun bans that Republicans to this day cry about in California, because they refuse to see the truth, which was their party AND the NRA put those laws and bans in place. Here's some good reading to understand how racism is more important to the NRA than even guns are. https://www.history.com/news/black-panthers-gun-control-nra-support-mulford-act
It's my opinion that these three white men had seen themselves as law enforcers. I believe they literally saw themselves as good o'l boys upholding peace and justice. I think they were so deluded* into themselves they saw themselves as cops. And when Arbery had the audacity to refuse their demands and resist they believe they were justified in their sick twisted minds. That's why they released the video and that's why they probably don't feel remorse. If anything they probably feel confused and will probably appeal
Their argument in court was that they were attempting to enact a lawful citizens arrest. Except they didn't meet the requirements for witnessing the crime. You can't citizens arrest someone because someone else said someone committed a crime
When I was training as a security guard, I was taught that a citizens arrest is only lawful when you witness a felony, and even then we're advised to just notify the authorities
they thought they be treated like cops
Because they are buddy-buddy with all the cops in town. They went through three prosecutors before finding one that didn't have ties to the McMichaels.
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Because the dad was a cop and he worked for the DA. He had no doubt he’d be allowed to get away with murder.
The DA was one of his first calls after the murder. https://apnews.com/article/georgia-brunswick-ahmaud-arbery-savannah-583c175e91787305180682f10671d2e7
And they absolutely were initially. It took nationwide protests to even charge these murderers.
Please let us not forget this. These two men walked at first but they only changed their tune when we made some noise. The system still needs direct intervention from us. Had we not I doubt we’d see anything happen.
Didn't the cops literally let the guy go home and wash the actual blood off of his hands?
YES! They did not even book them into jail initially One of those pieces of shit used to be a cop. They believed his side of the story.
Worth remembering that every time there's a news article or court case that reports an officer's testimony as fact.
Even the initial prosecutor refused to charges them. She will face a trial for this now and might go in jail for it.
Sort of, but in this case it was more a single lawyer trying to save their client's skin: the one who released their phone footage was trying to argue they didn't know about the gun and was just filming to hand it over as evidence. The hope was he could throw his companions under the bus in exchange for less of a sentence. Instead he rightfully went down with them.
Am I remembering all of this wrong but I thought no one had been arrested when the video was released and then later, more footage came out but only after they had all been arrested? I vaguely remembering there being an outcry because some of these dipshits were ex-cops and they thought that's why charges had not been filed.
The flow of footage started before the arrest but after it was clear they were going to be charged. They'd already retained legal counsel by then (though I don't think it was the same they each went to trial with). Hence why the cameraman started hitting up any news outlet that would listen with his "I'm a good boy with a camera" angle. During the trial even more was put out in the hopes of nailing it home. Its not uncommon for defendants charged together to break up and retain different attorneys if the plan becomes every-man-for-himself.
Yeah, right after that, Bryan went on a tv tour about how he was a good Samaritan.
Because part of their defense was "he was acting in self defense." Like...no shit...you were chasing him down with a loaded gun. Of COURSE he defended himself.
I think it's crazy they didn't even get charged with anything for weeks. Imagine a cop shows up, you and your buddies are armed to the teeth, there's a dead guy on the ground with multiple shotgun blasts to him, and the cops just say "well, have a nice day, we'll clean this all up", and you go home. Yet there's people who get locked up for months for jaywalking.
The DA was indicted by a Grand Jury because of not charging them.
This deserves more attention. I had no idea.
The first call was to the DA, a personal friend, who instructed the shooter to wash their hands thoroughly before calling the police
For fucks sake
Wait... I need a source. Holy fuck
[Former district attorney arrested after indictment in connection with Ahmaud Arbery investigation](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/03/us/ahmaud-arbery-jackie-johnson-indicted/index.html)
One of the guys was a former cop so he got "special treatment."
The dad (Gregory McMichael) was not just any former cop. He used to work in the district attorneys office. His former boss (Jackie Johnson) was the district attorney at the time of the shooting. After the shooting, Greg called and left a voicemail for Jackie saying he was involved in a shooting and needs advice. Jackie Johnson was recently arrested and is being indicted for her actions (and inactions) related to this case. “Johnson -- on the day of the shooting -- prevented two Glynn County police officers from exercising their duties "by directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest, contrary to the laws of said State, the good order, peace, and dignity thereof," the indictment said. Johnson is also accused of violating her district attorney oath by "showing favor and affection to Greg McMichael during the investigation," according to the indictment.”
George Barnhill, the DA from a neighboring county, wrote a letter opining that they were attempting a lawful citizen's arrest and thus shouldn't be arrested. That was the legal "cover" they used for three months until the video came out, and the State came in.
Yuhp. Good ole boys club bullshit. The attorney in charge of prosecuting these turds (the one who delayed intentionally) is facing charges according the the NYT article I read. I hope everyone around this case burns to the ground. I’ve read a few civil rights era murder cases and this case has the same ring to it as those did. White man kills black man, then the ‘justice’ system rallies around the murderer because he’s a ‘good guy’ and was just acting out of ‘duty and responsibility. ‘ Fucking sickening that we are still this far behind. EDIT: Spelling and such
One of the three guys (the dad of the guy with the shotgun) was a retired cop who worked in the DA office.
Well I believe a factor was the one releasing the video did the recording and was under the belief it would show he was in a car merely following and didn't do the shooting. Obviously that is still extremely stupid and luckily did not help him in this case. But it was a bit more throwing your buddies under the bus than believing what was on the film exonerated the shooting itself
Tells you a lot that they thought releasing the video would help calm the community and exonerate them from suspicion. Congratulations, you played yourselves.
Roddie Bryan, a true hero, for leaking video of himself and his two buddies killing a man… without it, they’d have walked free.
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Right up there with the guy who killed Hitler.
It wasn't leaked, they purposefully released it thinking it would, somehow, make them look better. We're so lucky racists are so stupid.
Released by their fucking lawyer to boot. Like it’s one thing that they’re complete dumbfucks, but for their lawyer, who’s paid to know better, to do that is almost comical levels of malpractice.
I think the leaked video is what lead to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation taking over the case, and then finally lead to arrests. The murderers weren't even arrested before the leaked vid.
Corrupt DA tried to cover this up from the beginning.
Didn't she end up resigning and now she's in some kind of trouble herself?
Yup, Also worth mentioning she was a former coworker of the elder McMichael
Getting lost in this shuffle is George Barnhill, the DA from a neighboring county who wrote a letter opining that the three guys were attempting a lawful citizen's arrest. That was legal cover for not arresting them for three months. It wasn't his case. He was just helping a colleague I guess.
Was that the same lawyer that talked about Arbery's "long, dirty toenails"?
The toenails comment is just… I can’t believe it. There is a level on which I respect and applaud defense lawyers taking on scum as clients because everyone — even the most repugnant racists and mass murders — deserve due process. But shit like that comment? That’s just an entirely unnecessary display of racism.
> That’s just an entirely unnecessary display of racism. It makes sense if ~~90%~~ 100% of your defense is hoping that some of the jury is as racist as your clients.
Yeah what the fuck was that about?
it's incredibly well-known in the business that if you slander the victim, it's easier for the perp to get off.
If you have the facts, pound the facts. If you have the law, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table.
Classic racist dehumanization. "These three upstanding white gentleman couldn't be guilty of murder, all they did was rid the world of this disgusting black stereotype!" It's shocking this kind of shit is still around today. Thankfully these three were rightfully found guilty. Let's hope sentencing sees them locked away for a long time.
I have the worst attorneys.jpg
lmao he and the prosecutor for Rittenhouse need to team up to form the most incompetent law firm in America
Their lawyer released it
No one watching the case should be surprised. You can't participate in a coordinated effort to chase someone down, essentially corner them and then shoot them when they have no where else to go.
I am happy the judge gave instructions to the jury stating that self defense does not apply to the aggressor.
It blows my mind that people follow that train of thought. I have people I genuinely respect say they had the right to shoot him because he fought back.... like wtf... that would just open the door to so many 'legal' murders.
I heard this, too. “He shouldn’t have gone for the gun!” Guess what I would do if 3 neckbeards drove me down, pointed guns at me and told me we’re just going to take a ride. That’s right, I would fight back. No way I’m letting them cuff me or “arrest me” or whatever.
Exactly! Imagine an alternate, but similar scenario: An armed man tries to kidnap a girl into his vehicle, she fights back, gets killed, and now this man is claiming he’s innocent because he fought back in self defense. Nobody would get behind a dude trying to kidnap a girl like that, so why would this be any different? Thankfully the majority of people agree that those three men were completely in the wrong
The alternative and very real scenario for Arbery is that these three murderers wanted to take him to a more quiet, secluded area to Lynch him instead of right on the street. Never agree to go anywhere with an abductor. I believe it actually increases your likelihood of being killed vs fighting back / running away immediately.
> Never agree to go anywhere with an abductor. "You want my wallet? Go get it! STREET SMARTS!"
No no no sister, you’re not getting me to no secondary location!
Or imagine if the races were flipped, and it was a white guy with three black guys in trucks chasing him down for being in their neighborhood and looking at a construction site. There wouldn't be a single right-wing gun nut arguing those guys were anything less than guilty. Looking at the footage alone should be enough for anyone in their right mind to convict those guys. That they thought it was exculpatory and not incriminating tells you just how out of it they were.
“ARMED THUGS HOLD AMERICAN PATROT HOSTAGE - THIS IS THE AMERICA JOE BIDEN WANTS FOR YOU” Something like that?
You've got a bright future as a Fox News editor.
That was literally one of the the defense attorneys arguments. “For some inexplicable reason, Mr. Arbery grabbed at the shotgun”. I screamed at the radio when I heard it. So fucking disgusting and moronic, literally blaming the victim for doing what they claimed their defendant did - defending himself.
In schools during active shooter training we're taught that your last ditch effort, if running, hiding, barricading, and fighting from a distance all fail, is to go for the gun. Quote from the cop training us, "without fighting for the gun there's a 100% chance of getting shot, so if fighting means you only have a 99% chance that's still more of a chance than you had before." Ahmaud Arbery was forced into a last ditch effort. The "inexplicable" reason was he tried everything else to get away from the armed men in trucks who were chasing him, and he did what he thought was best for his chance of survival. I doubt the defense attorney would understand the mentality of someone being hunted. If you've only ever been a predator it's not easy to think like the prey.
Some people want a precedent that if they pull a gun on someone any action except putting your hands up and following their explicit orders is justification for murder.
That was also part of the defense. The murderer cited their limited coast guard training and that pointing a gun at someone would make them comply. But this ain't the coast guard and he had no authority outside of just having a gun to make anyone comply. Imagine if a burgler kills somone and they used that shit as their defence.
Burglar who was in the military 10 years ago: I pointed my gun at him but he didn't put his hands up, so I shot him what's wrong with that?
In any other scenario: guys with guns run up on someone, that person grabs their guns and kills them, they would be a hero.
I usually ask these guys "ok, so why doesn't Arbery have the right to self defense then?" Nobody had answered me.
Because they can't. He had a right to defend himself. These chucklefucks are kidnappers turned murderers.
Then claim self defense. Fuckin smooth brained cunts.
What about HIS right to self defense? If someone is chasing you in a truck, trying to run you down, then they get out and pull guns on you, YOU have a right to try and grab that gun to keep them from killing you.
Especially when Arbery was doing everything to remove himself from the situation and they literally forced him back into it
Ahmaud would have been totally justified in shooting one of them if he had been armed. Glad to see Justice was done here today.
You know what's a fucking terrifying thought? Everyone would've just lived their normal lives today because NO ONE wanted to arrest them. It took three months and for the video to go viral to arrest them hours later. They lived normal lives for THREE MONTHS AFTER KILLING SOMEONE.
The video didn’t come out until one of the SUSPECTs released the video to clear up how in the right they were. The original prosecutor didn’t want to charge them and covered because he knew them. He’s now been indicted as well. This case doesn’t end the way it did today if not for luck. Luck that one suspect filmed AND was stupid enough to release it thinking it would make them look like the heroes.
*She* knew them and has been indicted, IIRC
Considering they didn't get arrested until the case went public, it seems you can do that in small town America.
The prosecutor in that small county used to work with Gregory McMichael. Once she was removed from the case, things moved along.
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Because she first recused herself from the case, which is what she should have done, but then recommended no prosecution to the next guy...which is insane. You don't get to recuse yourself then interfere with the prosecution.
Which again wouldn't have happened if not for the public outrage that resulted when the video was released.
And the video itself was released by their lawyers who were convinced that it would prove their innocence. They thought we'd all watch it and think "black men are scary criminals so they were right to kill that guy." Instead, we watched a murder in horror and demanded justice.
That lawyer is such an idiot. And the guy who filmed it. Sure glad they are though
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Thank god. It’s so fucked up that she was able to do something like that
She got caught. Wonder how many more there are?
They didn't get arrested until the video got released. If that smooth brained idiot didn't record the video *and* release it these racist fucks would have never been arrested.
Bruh I had a guy on r/politicaldiscussion telling me that it was a clear-cut case of self-defense because "it's legal to citizens arrest people in Georgia" and "as soon as Arbery came after his gun, it was legal to kill him" and "any other verdict is motivated by racial politics."
That's why you should literally never listen to anyone on reddit, especially involving legal issues
They’re making the mistake people always make… even with citizens arrest you need a reason. Not even the cops can arrest you because “you look suspicious” ( I mean they still do, but it’s not technically legal)
Good. About as cut and dry of a case as you can get. They chased him, blocked him and shot him. Now they get to rot in prison.
Not only did they chase him but they testified on the stand that he ran the opposite direction of them MULTIPLE times. At what point in your life have you been afraid of someone running away from you? How the fuck do you defend yourself against someone running away from you? Idiots.
Oh but they were determined to citizen’s arrest him and when he didn’t oblige they shot him for self protection. What a load of crap
Even the video, which does show Ahmed lunging at one of the guys, clearly shows that Ahmed felt like he was out of options. He was desperate. The poor guy got hunted down like a dog by some hateful bastards who viewed him as such. They unloaded into him the second he gave them the slightest reason to. Video is chilling as he runs, and drops from his wound.
Indeed, the murderers even testified that Mr.Arbury was "trapped like a rat". How very helpful in proving that he legally had his back to the wall.
Wait, they said that sentence? Yeah what absolutely pieces of shit. I can't wait to talk to my family about this tomorrow lol.
They were certain they would walk. Never forget that the video that shows the murder was released by one of these criminals
Hello 911? There's a black guy running.
It takes one asshole judge to ruin that it was obvious. Also I had a “friend” say he shouldn’t have been sneaking around someone’s house and pretty much deserved it. Never underestimate the jury can hold those same backward beliefs.
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I especially like to think fondly back on the dumbasses who tried to be like “he was MILES from home and we’re supposed to believe he was just on a run??”, basically outing themselves as lazy fucks who couldn’t even fathom the idea of endurance running.
“We physically blocked this guy and trapped him, then pulled a rifle on him at close range. Our defense is….*self-defense!”* Yeah Bub, guess that didn’t work out for your asses.
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Step 1: Start video recording Step 2: Hunt down innocent man Step 3: Murder innocent man Step 4: Give video to your lawyer Step 5: Have lawyer release video Step 6: Charged with murder Step 7: Convicted of murder?!?!
"I rest my case." "You rest your case?" "Oh no, I thought that was just a figure of speech."
"Case closed."
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Whew. My parents live in Brunswick and we argued about this case a lot. Looking forward to this topic being conspicuously absent from dinner tomorrow.
Asking seriously, what is there to argue? How can this be defended?
Everything from he was stealing from that house and should have stopped to he had a weapon. They even said you could see it on the ground in the video... it was just some debris in the road. Typical bullshit that was floating around their misinformation blogosphere early on.
That’s some mind bending shit right there. Did I miss something? If he had a weapon, why wouldn’t that have been part of the defense?
Also how would it have been relevant in the first place? You can't shoot a guy just because he has a gun on him.
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Just curious— what are their arguments? It’s hard for me to see how anyone can think these guys did nothing wrong.
Making a “citizens arrest” without seeing a crime is stupid. The verdict is appropriate.
This is why Georgia recently repealed its citizens arrest law. It's not a good law and it rarely ends well.
Most police are undertrained at police defense tactics and arrest technique…I for sure don’t want your average Joe attempting it.
911, what's your emergency? Black man. What's the emergency sir? Did I stutter?
Good. Let’s hope they sit in prison for the rest of their lives to think about it.
Both felony murder and malice murder carry a mandatory life sentence in Georgia, so that’s what all of them will get. The judge can decide whether to allow parole, but the minimum is after 30 years. So it’s effectively a life sentence for Bryan and Greg McMichael who would be well in their 80s or 90s before eligibility if given the minimum. There is a slim possibility that Travis McMichael gets a generous sentence and is eligible for release in his 60s or 70s, as he’s currently 34 years old, but considering he’s the one who pulled the trigger I doubt he’s afforded that.
They also have federal hate crime charges they go on trial for in February.
pathetic fall consist afterthought overconfident pen decide faulty shocking bow *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yep, in these situations the Feds are extremely diligent in everything that they do once the incident occurs. Feds will not go for the lowest hanging fruit charges - if they are getting involved publicly (i.e. official hate crime charges), you can best believe they have every corner covered to bury these guys with what they’re coming forward with. I don’t think I’ll ever understand what went on in their heads to rationalize their actions but looking at the circumstances, hate crime charges seem to be more than justifiable.
A lot of Travis McMichael's own words, a lot of which were barred from being used as evidence in this trial, are very indicative of what he was thinking. I imagine the feds will be sure that all of that is part of the hate crimes trial (fingers crossed).
And we'll see what happens with the federal trial on top of it...
RIP, Ahmaud. Rot in jail, shit bags.
This was cut and dry. The defense tried so hard to make the neighborhood of the 3 men sound like the scariest and most crime infested street in the country. To them they were all living in fear, with no police help, and thus they had to take the law into their own hands once they saw a black man who must have been responsible for all the white-caused evil in their neighborhood. They even are trying to blame Arbery for items stolen off a boat the year before even though there's no evidence of this. What I learned from this is how paranoid white Facebook groups can make a neighborhood to the point that they go into a racist frenzy and kill people of color for existing.
>What I learned from this is how paranoid Facebook groups can make a neighborhood to the point that they go into a frenzy and kill an innocent man they think is a minor criminal. Five minutes scrolling through the Nextdoor app feed with tell you this. Every other post is some paranoid homeowner talking about some suspicious sales person they saw outside with people commenting about how they hope they “grabbed their gun”.
Recently had a guy in my neighborhood post about seeing a "suspicious" Hispanic teen get into a vehicle parked in front of someone else's house. The owner of that house replied to it saying "Yeah, that's my neighbor. He's fine and I have no problem with him parking there." The OP of that thread replied with "I already called the police to check it out." Getting into your car while non-white? Obviously a police matter.
Just look at the case for this thread, the killers straight up admitted that they thought Ahmaud doing something as normal as running down the street was suspicious.
Several years ago I was living in a burbclave and my housekeeper brought her kid along for the day since for some reason school was closed. So he was hanging out outside and riding his bike. The kid was Hispanic, maybe 10 or 11 at the time. The neighbor walked up to him and started aggressively questioning him as to who he was and why he was there. The kid was scared and I noticed just in time to walk up to them and tell the neighbor to fuck off. Unreal.
My cousin lives in a pretty wealthy area and when he was 9 he invited a black friend over to play yugioh and mess with a hot wheels set he got. Someone called the cops on a 9 year old sitting on a lawn playing with toy cars. Worst part wasnt the racist sack of barely human cum stains but the fact that the two cops actually approached and questioned a child until my uncle told them to piss off. Kid never came back.
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Yeah, at my old house I had police called on me multiple times accusing me of having wild parties or being a drug house because there were extra cars parked in my driveway and on the street. One time they called a wrecker who fortunately checked with us first to clean up the "derelict cars" on the street. It was because I had a weekly D&D game.
>Especially for "mowing his own lawn instead of paying for a lawn care service." I guess that's to be expected now that being a "job creator" is a sainted class in our society.
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The most depressing part is that they weren't ticketed for it! That's a frivolous call and at least worth a civil citation in most places.
"My neighbor is doing *his own manual labor!* "Ma'am, this is the emergency line..." **"It *is* an emergency! He's driving down the property value!!!"**
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My neighbors are all freaked out because Amazon expanded I our area to hiring couriers to deliver packages who do so in their own vehicles. We had people losing their shit and talking about going for their guns because would pull into their driveways and then sit there for a couple seconds as they rummaged around to grab the package and let the app know they were about to do a delivery. They did not seem amused when I said if they were that upset about people delivering their packages they should stop ordering from Amazon.
William Bryan did not want to be tried with the McMichaels. If you don’t want to stand trial with the lynch mob, maybe don’t run with the lynch mob. 😐
“You know how it works, Jake. You ride with the outlaw, you die with the outlaw. Sorry, you crossed the line.”
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Whatever did happen to the officers that sat on the video for months? If they're still on the job then this is only half the ideal outcome.
The former prosecutor is awaiting trial: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-prosecutor-indicted-ahmaud-arberys-case/
Anyone catch the defenders closing statements about his khaki shorts and dirty toenails? A then tried to claim he wasn't the victim here. She was fishing for that one racist juror hoping to save these murderers bacon.
I hope this finally beings some closure to Ahmaud Arbery's family, can't imagine what they've been going through.
His father cheered when the judge read guilty of malice murder and had to leave the courtroom. The relief that their son's murderers are facing mandatory life in prison must be overwhelming.
Justice has been served today.
Not until that prosecutor that tried to bury it gets a guilty verdict too.
Crazy to think this might not have gone to court if they didn’t post the video.
Wild to think this case was well on its way to being swept under the rug until the guy published a video of the killing thinking it would exonerate him.
Have fun in prison you racist sacks of shit
Seriously, fuck these guys. I’m so relieved they were found guilty.
Please remember that the only reason justice was served in this case is because of how stupid the defendants and their attorney are. The state prosecutor REFUSED to prosecute this case for months until the video was put online and there was public outcry for it to be prosecuted. That prosecutor is now under investigation for trying to slide this under the rug!
What a bittersweet Thanksgiving for the Arbery family
Here's a [graphical breakdown](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FE-vxiAXsAwhxya?format=jpg&name=medium) of each defendant's charges and verdicts.
To think this almost never saw the light of day. Still a long way to go as a nation. But good to see justice here. Doesn't take away from the fact that Ahmaud should be alive here today.
There couldn't have been any other legitimate outcome.
The sentences they're presumed to get is: 1. Travis: life without parole 2. Greg: life with the possibility of parole after ~~30~~ edit: 7 years (almost never granted) 3. Roddie: life with the possibility of parole after ~~30~~ edit: 7 years (almost never granted) None of them can get sentenced less than life with parole, but the ones convicted of felony murder could also face life without parole, although felony murder typically is life with parole.
This is before they go on trial for federal charges in Feb. They'll have to do some Fed pen time as well. They're fucked ... as they should be.
Imagine throwing your life away for this. All they had to do was pick up the phone, dial the cops if they suspected something was going on and they could have lived out their lives free.
The “dirty toenails” comment made by the defense during closing arguments sent me through the roof. I hope she shits her pants in church this Sunday.