The parents of Ahmaud Arbery joined a group that no parent wanted to be a part of and with such dignity, two years after their son was lynched for jogging. For the state of Georgia and the United States of America.
The McMichaels and Bryan were sentenced to life in prison for murder in Georgia last year. Bryan is eligible for parole in 30 years.
The three pleaded not guilty to the hate crimes charges in the federal trial, arguing that they were suspicious of Arbery and pursued him because of that.
The FBI witness in the trial said that both McMichael and Bryan used racist language. McMichael posted a video on Facebook in which he said he would kill Black people.
Arbery was not a suspect in a crime and was not a person of interest.
The killings of Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor in Minneapolis and Louisville in 2020 led to protests across the country against racism and police brutality. The McMichaels and Bryan cases are the only ones that have been charged with hate crimes.
Attorney General Garland said in a statement that the defendants actions and the racism that fueled them have inflicted enduring trauma.
Arbery's family has been critical of the Department of Justice, reflecting that some form of justice was only served because of the family's public push to have the court refuse a plea deal on the hate crime charges.
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery's mother, said at the press conference that she will never heal.
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