Ahmaud Arbery: life imprisonment for the 3 white men who killed a young black man who played sports in the United States

Before your verdict, the Arbery family requested the harshest possible punishments for the three men as a way to “close a difficult chapter” in their lives.

The case has raised questions about racial justice in the southern United States.

Arbery, 25, of Brunswick, Georgia, was running in a predominantly white residential area when the trio chased after him and cornered him in pickup trucks before young McMichael shot him during a fight.

The defendants argued that they acted in self-defense by attempting to make the citizen arrest of an alleged thief, but prosecutors maintained that race was a factor.

Gregory McMichael, 66, his son Travis, 35, and Bryan, 52, were convicted of murder, aggravated assault, illegal detention and intent to commit a serious crime.

Judge Timothy Walmsley said: “Taking the law into your own hands is a dangerous business.”

Maintaining a minute of silence to mark “a fraction of the time that Ahmaud Arbery was running at Satilla Shores,” the judge said that “it kept coming back to the terror that must have been in [su] mind”.

“Regret is not simply a statement of regret. Remorse is something that is felt and shown“he said.” After the fall of Ahmaud Arbery, the McMichaels turned their backs on him. “

But he concluded that Bryan, who joined the ambush and filmed it, must have a chance to seek parole because shortly thereafter he “demonstrated serious concerns that what had happened should not have happened.”

In court, members of the Arbery family asked that the three men be “fully committed to the consequences” of their actions.

Wanda Cooper Jones, who sat in the courtroom throughout the trial, spoke directly with her late son.

“This verdict It doesn’t bring you back, but it does help close this difficult chapter of my life.“, He said.

“I made you a promise the day I buried you: I told you that I love you and that someday, somehow, I would do justice for you.”

Jasmine Arbery recalled her younger brother’s love of the outdoors, his athletic build, and “dark skin that gleamed in the sunlight like gold.”

“These are the qualities that led these men to assume that Ahmaud was a dangerous criminal and to pursue him with weapons in hand,” he said.

“For me, those qualities reflected a young man with life and energy who resembled me and the people I love.”

Arbery’s father, Marcus, lamented that he would never spend another day with a son who changed his life.

Defense attorneys had asked for some leniency for the men; they said their clients were good men of family, community and country who committed “a bad act.”

“No matter how thoughtless or reckless these actions may have been, they are not evidence of a soul so blackened as to deserve life without parole,” said one of them, Bob Rubin.

But lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski fiercely rejected the argument: “Travis McMichael said this was the worst day of his life. Well, how did that end for Ahmaud Arbery?”

Attorney Kevin Gough, however, argued that refusing to provide his client, William Bryan, with the possibility of parole would be “unconstitutionally cruel and disproportionate.”

The three defense attorneys said they will appeal the verdicts.

The defendants also face a federal hate crime trial next month. They are accused of attacking Arbery because he was black.

Arbery’s mother told the US media on Friday that she rejected the offer of a plea deal that would put them in 30 years in federal prison in addition to the jail time ordered in state court.

Now you can receive notifications from BBC News Mundo. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss out on our best content.