CAIR-NY Welcomes the Guilty Verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery Case
At last, justice was served for Ahmaud Arbery, his family, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the nation as a whole. On Wednesday, November 24th, a Georgia court of law rendered its verdict against three white men, Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan. The men were found guilty on a slew of charges, including felony murder.
On February 23rd, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, an African-American man, was unarmed and jogging in a Brunswick, GA neighborhood, when he was shot and killed by Travis McMichael, who was accompanied at the time by his father Gregory McMichael, and neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan. The guilty verdict against the three, now convicted murderers, was refreshing. It showed us a functional justice system working on the side of accountability and deterrence, instead of the side of privilege and hate. State prosecutor Linda Dunikoski led the way, presenting facts and proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the McMichael’s, and Mr. Bryan fatally attacked Ahmaud Arbery and ended his life without any lawful justification. If only courtrooms throughout our country worked the way this courtroom did. The verdict of the court, which was presided over by Judge Timothy Wamsley, sharply disciplined the hatred for Black people that motivated the three men to kill Ahmaud Arbery, and it shunned the privilege that afforded the killers two months of freedom and unaccountability after the murder. Prior to their arrest, the McMichael’s and Bryan had been protected by local officials, who attempted to cover-up the murder because one of the convicted killers, Gregory McMichael, was a former police officer. The three men were not arrested until after a video clip went viral in the early days of May 2020.
CAIR-NY welcomes the guilty verdict in the trial of the Michael’s and Mr. Bryan for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. We applaud the jurors, the prosecutors, and the judge for personifying justice, and for blindly measuring the deeds involved during this hateful, racist killing. We applaud the protestors who made their voices and outrage heard throughout the nearly two years that have passed since the fatal attack. The right to protest is a fundamental right, protected by the Constitution, and is an important aspect in the fight for social justice. We applaud the media, as well as the various organizations, including our sister chapter CAIR-GA, that worked to raise awareness and pressured officials to do the right thing. As a civil rights organization, we condemn racism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hate, whether they happen in Brooklyn, NY or Brunswick, GA. We support civil rights leaders and protestors fighting to end racial injustice. Without a video of the shooting, but even more so without the protesting and activism from the civil rights community, Ahmaud Arbery’s killers might have been free today.