Success: Applaud Hate Crimes Verdict in Murder of Black Man

Target: Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General

Goal: Applaud verdict that affirms murder of Ahmaud Arbery as hate crime.

When video emerged of Ahmaud Arbery being shot to death after he was chased down by three strangers, individuals across the country were outraged. The convictions of the three men involved in the fatal shooting—Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, and Roddie Bryan—brought some peace to Arbery’s grieving family and satisfied in part the calls of this ForceChange petition. The country still wondered, however, if the young Black man’s killers would answer for the potential racial underpinnings of their crimes. Now, the nation has a decisive answer.

Aside from the state criminal charges, the U.S. Department of Justice brought the McMichaels and Bryan up on federal hate crimes charges. The possible racist motivation for these crimes grew from the defendants’ past behaviors, their defense for killing the man, and their apparently callous and remorseless attitude in the wake of the shooting. Each of the defendants had spoken or written derogatory words about Black individuals and other minorities. In the events leading up to the shooting, the three men pursued a jogging Arbery because they falsely thought (with no proof) that he had committed a crime. In closing arguments, prosecutors said that “the three defendants did not see 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery as a fellow human being.”

After hours of deliberations, the jury apparently agreed. They found all three men guilty of each charge in the federal trial. Penalties could extend to additional sentences of life in prison. Sign the petition below to thank the Department of Justice for seeing this pursuit of justice through to a just conclusion.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Attorney General Garland,

“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.” These words, spoken by you, resonate with so many people in America and around the world. The outcome of the federal hate crimes trial for Ahmaud Barbery’s death are an even more powerful statement.

Thank you, and thank all of the prosecutors involved in securing this justice, for fighting for a young man taken too soon, his family, and for every person who has suffered simply for being themselves.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Elvert Barnes