Prosecutors in the federal hate crimes case against the white men convicted of murdering Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery say that they have reached plea agreements with two of the three defendants.
Travis McMichael, who pulled the trigger, and his father, Greg, have no chance for parole. A federal hate crimes trial remains in a case widely seen as racially motivated.
Friday on Political Rewind: The three men found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery were set to be sentenced today in a Brunswick courtroom. All three face a mandatory 30 years in prison, but we asked: will any of them be given a chance of parole? The tragic deaths last year of Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, and other African Americans accelerated demands for racial and social justice … and gave new legitimacy to the Black Lives Matter movement. In Glynn County, a new organization came to life to push for change in a county long seen as hostile to its Black residents. But how much progress has been made in achieving these goals? We asked our panel.
Three white men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery have been sentenced to life in prison, with a judge denying any chance of parole for the father and son who armed themselves and initiated the deadly pursuit of the 25-year-old Black man.
In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic pitted parents against school boards, a high-profile murder trial played out in Coastal Georgia, and embittered fights over state voting law were spurred by baseless claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
On today's show: A Republican leader in the state Senate filed a bill to eliminate drop boxes, which have enabled voters to cast absentee ballots more easily. Meanwhile, Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to announce later this week that Rivian, one of the country’s largest manufacturers of electric vehicles, is set to build an assembly plant in Georgia.
Mayor-elect Cosby Johnson will lead city government at a time when the Coastal Georgia community is reckoning with racial justice in the wake of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
On this week's Georgia Today podcast, we explore the emotional toll surrounding the Brunswick trial of the three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery. During the trial, says Larry Hobbs from the Brunswick News, "Marcus Arbery and Wanda Cooper-Jones were the faces of courage — to see these images of their son over and over again, to hear what the defense said about their son — this was a grueling episode for them." After the guilty verdicts in the long-awaited trial, where do Brunswick and Glynn County go from here?
The federal hate crime trial, which includes charges of murder, kidnapping attempts and other violence, is set to begin on Feb. 7 at the Brunswick U.S. District Court Southern District of Georgia courthouse, nearly two years after Arbery was shot at close range.
Ahmaud Arbery’s death sparked a small group of acquaintances to band together to try to force Glynn County to confront the many failures of its law enforcement and other elected officials. Their group, A Better Glynn, wields a powerful combination of local roots, national experience and professional know-how.
Monday on Political Rewind: Scientists say there is much to learn about the dangers of the new coronavirus variant. Meanwhile, residents in Brunswick and Glynn County go about their days in aftermath of the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial.
