MARIETTA, Ga. — When Ahmaud Arbery's attackers were on trial in Glynn County, the Cobb County District Attorney's Office presented the case.
Prosecutors with the Cobb County DA's office were also there as a jury announced their verdict, finding Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan guilty in Arbery's killing on Feb. 23, 2020.
Months after the verdict on the inaugural Ahmaud Arbery Day, marking two years since the 25-year-old's death Cobb County DA Flynn Broady asked the community to pray and held a multi-faith vigil in Arbery's honor.
"This is a celebration of someone's life, the life of Ahmaud Arbery," Broady said at the beginning of the vigil held in Marietta Square.
In attendance and recognized by Broady was Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery's mother.
Leaders of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths in Cobb County were on hand and offered prayers focused on unity.
"God said to come together, love the stranger as yourself. Because that is the only way we can build a just society," said Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Marietta's Temple Kol Emeth.
Broady's office successfully prosecuted Travis and Gregory McMichael and Bryan on murder charges in the state case over Arbery's death -- without introducing evidence showing Arbery was targeted for being Black.
Broady said he is thankful to see the federal hate crimes trial play out over the past week, showing the defendant's history of racist comments and mindsets made public.
"We had the evidence but it didn't apply in our case because our case wasn't a hate crimes case," Broady said. "But I wanted people to know what these men were really like and for that evidence to come out so they could see the attitude, the way these men thought."
After holding the vigil before a modest crowd in Marietta Square, Broady said he is thankful as a Black man to have the guilty verdicts against Arbery's attackers to show the justice system can work for everyone.
"The justice system works and it works for everyone is the lesson I'm taking away from this. Because for far too long we have seen that justice doesn't work for minority communities," Broady said. "Ahmaud's life has definitely shown that we are willing and able to make a change and I think going forward we have taken the first step to some unity, ridding the country of hate and intolerance."
Moving forward Broady hopes Arbery's story can prevent others from being targeted and made victims in similar crimes. He believes the guilty verdicts in the state trial and now federal trial send a message to the public.
"We are hoping that people understand when they do wrong they will be prosecuted for their crimes," Broady said. "We are hoping that people can understand that when we start taking a look at us we are so much more in common than we have differences and we need to focus on those commonalities and stop using the differences to label people and use that to hate people."