Travis and Gregory McMichaels and William “Roddie” Bryan have been convicted of perpetrating hate crimes against Ahmaud Arbery.
The federal criminal trial, which lasted a week, determined that the motivation of the offense toward Arbery was race.
In addition to the hate crime, they mean also faced “one count of interference of Arbery’s civil rights, plus attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels were also charged with using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.”
Prosecutors also presented racist messages from the defendants.
They looked at Travis McMichael and his propensity to use inflammatory and racialized language that put whites against Blacks.
One text even said the Blacks should be made an example of. They also spoke about how Bryan heard the men using racial slurs after shooting Ahmaud as he lay dying on the ground.
The three men had previously been convicted on the state level of murder. Each received life sentences. The McMichaels have no possibility of parole.
Bryan, the man who recorded the video used to convict the men, will have a chance at parole.
The sentencing date for the federal convictions has not been determined but will make freedom for any of the men unlikely.