refused to take this case, who had familiarity based on employing one of the defendants, but then god there was another prosecutor who put on an unimpeachable case. they prove that the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that mr. arbery was hunted down, and killed by three men who never even told him why they were trying to stop him. jonathan, the defense was based on old georgia citizens arrest law that was dates back to slavery. when the law was first passed it authorized white citizens to capture and enslaved people, but in the end this was a straightforward murder prosecution. i had concerns about the lack of diversity on the jury, 11 out of 12 white. one out of four people are black in the county. but in the closing statement, the prosecutor told the jurors you are glenn county. i heard that is telling the jurors, follow the evidence,
fishing. while today s verdict might feel like a measure of accountability, it s also one that began with a local reporter s work. so our message to you tonight is this. support your local paper. as the home page of the brunswick news notes tonight, the world needs trustworthy reporting. but good journalism isn t free. amen. that does it for us tonight. i wish you all a very, very happy thanksgiving. it s time now for the last word with my friend jonathan capehart filling in for lawrence tonight. good evening, jonathan. good evening, ali. and what a beautiful sentiment to transfer from you to me as a newspaper man. yes, good journalism i know. is important. a local newspaper man originally. right. you were a local guy originally. yes. new york daily news. ali, thank you very much. happy thanksgiving. happy thanksgiving. what happened in georgia today was not justice. justice would be if ahmaud arbery were still alive tonight,
we [inaudible] i never thought this day would come. but god is good. yes he has. and i want to tell everybody, thank you, thank you, thank you. in our prayers, i knew him as ahmaud, he will now rest in peace. a man. in a statement, vice president kamala harris praised the verdict, adding quote, we feel the weight of grief. ahmaud arbery should be alive. ahmaud arbery was a son. he was a brother. he was a friend. his life had meaning. we will not forget him. we honor him best by continuing the fight for justice. reverend al sharpton spoke about the historic nature of this verdict, that many felt was far from certain. and let the work go forth all over the world, that a jury
january s is six, the guilty very we saw in the china is the very least that we are owed we know just how much you to crest even get a semblance of that kind of accountability. so and with that. i. brittani, thank you for joining us as always. that is tonight s last word, the 11th hour with brian williams starts right now. well good evening once again, they 309 of the biden administration. the three men charged in the killing of ahmaud arbery are going away, having all been convicted of murder. their claim was, they were protecting their community and acting in self-defense on the second day of deliberations, the jury and brunswick georgia found him guilty in the shooting death of arbery as he jogged through their neighborhood. count one. malice murder. we the jury find the defendant, travis mcmichael, guilty.
getting ready to celebrate thanksgiving with his family. what happened in georgia today was accountability, the three men who chased and gunned down ahmaud arbery while he was jogging in february of last year have all been found guilty of murder. celebrations erupted outside the courthouse after the nearly all white jury delivered a guilty verdict after 11 hours of deliberation. travis mcmichael who fatally shot ahmaud arbery was found guilty on all nine counts including malice murder, and felony murder. his father, gregory mcmichael and their neighbor william brian, we re also guilty of felony murder. they each face the sentence of life in prison. it will be up to the judge to decide if they will ever be eligible for parole, they all still faces federal hate crime charges as well. ahmaud arbery s parents think those who marched, prayed, and supported their families since their sons murder.