Travis McMichael, 36, his father, Gregory, 66, and their neighbour, William Bryan, are already serving life sentences over the murder of ahmaud arbery.
On Monday, the father and son were sentenced to life in prison
while Bryan; The man who recorded cellphone video of Ahmaud Arbery’s killing was sentenced Monday to 35 years in prison after his role in the fatal chase was deemed a federal hate crime.
A judge sentenced William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, in U.S. District Court nearly six months after a jury convicted Bryan and two other white men of violating Arbery’s civil rights, concluding the trio targeted Arbery because he was Black. Bryan was also convicted of attempted kidnapping.
Bryan was previously sentenced in a Georgia state court to life with a possibility of parole for Arbery’s murder.
They will serve their additional sentences concurrently with their state prison sentences.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot and killed during a confrontation with the three men in Georgia in February 2020.
The case became a rallying cry for racial justice protesters around the US.
In February, all three men were found guilty of federal hate crimes charges. These included interfering with Mr Arbery’s right to use a public street because of his race and attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels were also found guilty of a weapons charge.
U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood handed down the sentences against Travis McMichael, 36, and his father, Greg McMichael, 66, reiterating the gravity of the killing that shattered their Brunswick community and became part of a larger national reckoning over racial injustice.
“A young man is dead. Ahmaud Arbery will be forever 25. And what happened a jury found happened because he’s Black,” Wood said.
Both men were previously sentenced to life without parole in state court for Arbery’s murder and had asked the judge to divert them to a federal prison to serve their sentences, saying they were worried about their safety in the state prison system. Wood declined their request.
In January, Travis and Gregory McMichael were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting. At the time, the judge said that neither men had shown remorse or empathy for Mr Arbery.
While Bryan also received the maximum sentence of life, he was offered the possibility of parole in 30 years.
They have appealed their state convictions.
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