Actor Rodrick Covington speaks where BLM protesters are gathered for the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's death at the Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn of New York City, the US, on Tuesday. Photo: VCG

A US jury found three white men guilty of federal hate crimes on Tuesday for the murder of a black man who was shot dead while jogging in their Georgia neighborhood in 2020.

Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and their neighbor William Bryan were convicted of violating the civil rights of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old African-American man.

The McMichaels and Bryan are already serving life sentences after being found guilty in a state trial in November of the February 2020 murder of Arbery.

During the federal hate crimes trial, prosecutors recounted the alleged use by the three men of vulgar racial slurs and history of racism.

Arbery's parents, Marcus Arbery and Wanda Cooper-Jones, and Attorney General Merrick Garland welcomed the verdict.

"We got justice for Ahmaud," Marcus Arbery told reporters.

"We got a victory today," said Cooper-Jones, "but there's so many families out there who don't get victories."

"I as a Mom will never heal," she added. "It's been a very long stressful fight."

Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who represented the family, said Arbery was "lynched for jogging while black."

"I believe this is the first time in the state of Georgia's history where there has been a conviction for a federal hate crime," he said.

Garland, at a press conference in Washington, said the Justice Department will "use every resource at its disposal to confront unlawful acts of hate and to hold accountable those who perpetrate them."

"No one in this country should have to fear the threat of hate-fueled violence," an emotional Garland said. 

"No one should fear being attacked or threatened because of what they look like, where they are from, whom they love, or how they worship."

"And no one should fear that if they go out for a run, they will be targeted and killed because of the color of their skin."
The McMichaels and Bryan chased Arbery in their pickup trucks on February 23, 2020 as he jogged through their neighborhood near the town of Brunswick, Georgia.

Travis McMichael confronted Arbery as he passed by their truck and shot and killed him.

The McMichaels had reached plea deals in January on the hate crimes charges but a judge rejected the deals after Arbery's relatives objected.

Prosecutors in the state trial of the three men did not dwell on the racial aspects of the murder in making their case.

However, Justice Department attorneys in the federal trial made it the focus of their arguments.

Prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein said that if Arbery had been white he would have gone for a jog and "made it home for Sunday supper."

AFP