The three men involved in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, were found guilty on Wednesday of multiple counts of felony murder.
The incident took place on Feb. 23, 2020 in Brunswick, Georgia, when the three men—Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William Bryan Jr.—chased and fatally shot Arbery.
The shooting gained national attention after a video of the attack went viral online and sparked outcry, prompting the district attorney’s office to take up the case and ultimately arrest the men.
The men had been charged with nine counts in total, including one count of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of criminal attempt to commit felony. Despite attempts by the men to defend their actions as self defense, a jury in Glynn County disagreed.
Travis, who shot and killed Arbery, was found guilty on all nine counts. Gregory was found guilty of eight while William was found guilty of six. The three men have also been indicted on federal hate crime charges.
Over the course of the 13-day trial, the defendants attempted to prove that they had been trying to make a lawful citizen’s arrest after spotting Arbery leaving a construction site. The prosecution argued that the men had chased Arbery, who was on a jog, merely because of the color of his skin.
“You can’t claim self-defense if you are the unjustified aggressor,” lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said on Tuesday. “Who started this? It wasn’t Ahmaud Arbery.”
The three men could face life in prison.