BRUNSWICK, Ga. — In a scene inside a federal courtroom in south Georgia underscoring the emotional weight of the hate crimes trial in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, the lone Black man on the jury delivered the verdict to the court for the clerk to read Tuesday: guilty for all three killers on all charges.
11Alive's Hope Ford, who was inside the Brunswick courtroom, detailed that the foreperson was clearly moved following the verdict.
He cried and wiped tears, taking in deep breaths and struggling to speak as he acknowledged to the judge that he gave his vote as a juror willingly. He shed tears again when the judge thanked the jury and told them they had been in a difficult position throughout this trial.
RELATED: Jury finds men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery guilty on all charges in federal hate crimes trial
Attorney and legal analyst Page Pate told 11Alive that choosing the only Black man on the jury was likely intentional - an indication of the message they wanted to send on their verdict.
It was a highly emotional scene all around - the jury affirming that Travis McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan violated Arbery's civil rights and killed him because of the color of his skin in the chase and murder of Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020.
In addition to the foreperson's reaction, one of the Black women working on the prosecution team broke down in tears as the trial concluded.
The trial produced difficult testimony and evidence, and visibly upset members of the Arbery family left the courtroom several times during proceedings, with his father Marcus Arbery saying last week, "I knew all that hate was in those men."
The jurors, too, at varying times asked if counseling would be available due to the graphic and unsettling nature of the evidence and testimony in the case. They were told by the judge that it would be.
Ben Crump, the attorney for Arbery's family, voiced the significance and difficulty of the moment in a statement.
"After much sorrow, grief, and pain, Ahmaud’s family can finally put this chapter behind them," he said. "For the last 24 months, they’ve dedicated themselves to getting justice for their son. They’ve had to relive his brutal murder, watch and listen as he was demonized in court, and fight to share with the world who Ahmaud Arbery was and who he could have been had his young life not been so violently cut short."
Arbery, he said, "was denied the opportunity to define his own legacy." But, Crump said, "we have the power to ensure that it is one that propels our fight for equal justice and dispels hate from this world."
"That is how we continue to honor Ahmaud and make sure his death was not in vain," Crump said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that the foreperson delivered the verdict to the court for the clerk to read.
Photos: Verdict reached in federal hate crimes trial against men who killed Ahmaud Arbery
