Three white Americans were sentenced to life in prison for stalking and killing an African-American jogger in February 2020 in Georgia because, as they claimed, he was suspected of burglary!
Travis McMichael, 35, the man who pulled the trigger, and his father, Gregory, 66, were sentenced to life without parole.
Their neighbor, William Brian, 52, who participated in the pursuit and videotaped the murder, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of suspending his sentence, after serving 30 years in prison.
Announcing his decision, Judge Timothy Wolsley said McMichael was given the heaviest punishment the law allows, in part because of their "inhumane" statements and actions, which were captured on video.
"It was a creepy, really scary scene," he said, referring to the video, which shows young McMichael picking up his gun and aiming at 25-year-old Amont Arbery, who was just 10 meters away. Arbery "was chased and shot and killed because some people in this room took the law into their own hands," he added.
Earlier, relatives of Arber, speaking in court, said racist stereotypes were what led to the 25-year-old's murder. Defense attorneys asked for the court's leniency, arguing that none of the three defendants sought to kill Amont Arbery.
The lawyers of the three defendants said they would appeal the sentence. "His goal was not to commit a crime that day or kill anyone. "He wanted to spend an afternoon with his family," said Bob Rubin, Travis McMichael's lawyer.
None of the three convicts exercised their right to go to court. All of them will be tried again in February, by a federal court this time, accused of hate crime.
Prosecutors said the three men "assumed the worst" when they saw a black man running in their neighborhood.
Arbery was jogging in the Satila Sorce neighborhood on the afternoon of February 23, when McMichael grabbed their guns, got into their van and chased him. Travis McMichael, the only one of the three who testified at the trial, said he shot while defending.
"They chose to target my son because they did not want him in their community. "Because they could not intimidate or intimidate him, they killed him," Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, testified in court.
Brian followed McMichael in his own van and videotaped Travis shooting the young man at close range. Arbery had absolutely nothing on him at the time other than the sportswear and shoes he was wearing.
The video caused outrage when it was released months later and it became known that none of the three involved had been arrested, after a local prosecutor found the murder justified.
in.gr