Civil Rights & Social Justice

Never forget that on Feb. 23, 2020, white, racist vigilantes murdered Ahmaud Arbery while he was jogging in Brunswick, Georgia.

The white men who killed Ahmaud Arbery are appealing their hate crime convictions.

One of the men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery is attempting to throw his two co-defendants under the bus, including his own son, by painting them as anti-Black racists in a desperate attempt to be acquitted in the federal hate crime trial that resulted in three guilty verdicts.

A judge handed down life in prison sentences to each of Ahmuad Arbery's three convicted murderers - Greg and Travis McMichaels and William "Roddie" Bryan - for the brutal and brazen killing of the unarmed Black jogger in a case that centered on race and captivated the world's attention.

#BlackLivesMatter

Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson was indicted for her incestuous relationship with one of Ahmaud Arbery's accused killers who she refused to criminally charge for his killing.

After the recent indictments of two Georgia district attorneys, including one who worked on Ahmaud Arbery's case while concealing a conflict of interest, Waycross County District Attorney George Barnhill -- who justified Arbery's shooting -- could be next.

Crime

Nearly two years after Ahmaud Arbery's shocking killing in Brunswick, Georgia, the murder trial has finally begun in an effort to the three white men accountable for the racist and vigilante shooting that bore all the hallmarks of a modern-day lynching.

Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan - the three white men involved in Ahmaud Arbery's killing - have been found guilty of murder in the vigilante shooting of the 25-year-old Black jogger they racially profiled in Brunswick, Georgia.

“Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts, with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails,” said Laura Hogue, who represents Greg McMichael.

Lawyers for William "Roddie" Bryan, one of the three white men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery, reportedly offered a plea deal to the prosecution, but it was immediately rejected, civil rights attorney Lee Merritt said.

Race Matters

Rev. Jesse Jackson attended the court proceedings in the trial over Ahmaud Arbery's death days after defense attorney Kevin Gough declared in front of a judge and jury that “We don’t want any more Black pastors here.”

The murder trials for Kyle Rittenhouse and the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery might not be happening if the white males involved didn't decide to take the law into their own hands in illegal attempts to dole out vigilante justice.