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Ahmaud Arbery's aunt on federal hate crimes trial: 'It’s been an emotional roller coaster'

Thea Brooks said the family is praying the three defendants are found guilty on all counts.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Jury deliberations are underway for the three men already convicted in state court in the death of Ahmaud Arbery and sentenced to life in prison.

Prosecutors are trying to prove the three defendants, Gregory and Travis McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan pursued Arbery through a Brunswick neighborhood in February 2020 because of the color of his skin. 

There's no verdict in day one of deliberations in the federal hate crimes trial in the death of Ahmaud Arbery. The jury went home after about three hours of discussing the evidence on Monday.

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster," Thea Brooks said. "Of course we knew pretty much what we were going to be getting ourselves into as far as the context of what was going to be said. However, exactly just what was going to be said, we didn’t know.”

Thea Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery's paternal aunt, said hearing racially-charged text messages, social media posts, and witness testimony in the federal trial has been gut wrenching for the Arbery family.  

“Then to listen to the comments that they made about African Americans, the things that they did and said, it concerned me, but then when you sit back and you listen to Ahmaud’s video and how he ran for five minutes, and you put the context of what they said with the video, it all makes sense now," Brooks said.

11Alive legal analyst Page Pate believes the strongest evidence of racism is against the man who fatally shot Arbery, Travis McMichael. 

“I think both sides did exactly what they had to do," Pate said.

Prosecutors pushed the question during closing arguments: Would the three defendants have grabbed guns and chased after Arbery if he weren't Black?  

“Obviously, the government needed to lay out the elements of their case for each of the three counts for each of the three individual defendants," Pate said. 

The defense claimed no racism took place when the men pursued Arbery because they simply recognized him as the man going into a vacant home in the Satilla Shores neighborhood. 

“The defendants then come up and do exactly what we would expect them to do. ‘Yes, there was evidence of racial prejudice here, but that doesn’t mean they did what they did because Ahmaud Arbery was Black,’” Pate said. 

“There were a lot of things that were said that were very hurtful," Brooks said. "They made you really think about the reality of things and that these people were in our community every day. One of these people served in law enforcement. The other one was with the Coast Guard. Then the other one was  a mechanic. They worked with people of all races on a daily basis.”

Brooks said the family continues to pray that the three defendants are convicted on all counts.

“It was very distasteful and disheartening to know that these people served in our community, that they dealt with people of color on a daily basis, and this was in their heart the entire time," Brooks said.

The jury will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

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