We certainly had a lot going on over the Thanksgiving weekend, food, family, fellowship, and football. However, one family found the annual holiday of thanks to be bittersweet. Ahmaud Arbery's family saw justice served as the jury came back with a guilty verdict for the three men charged with his murder. The 25-year-old football star was unarmed when he was murdered in February 2020. He was jogging in a Satilla Shores neighborhood, just outside of Brunswick from which he was a lifetime resident. The young African American athlete was pursued by three White residents, Travis McMichael, 35, his father Gregory, 65, and William "Roddie" Bryan, 52. The three men were traveling in two separate vehicles and they were all armed.

What helped convict the three men was a recording of the pursuit and murder on Bryan's cell phone. More than a year later all three men were found guilty Wednesday, November 24. Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones said, “I never thought this day would come, but God is good.” Out of 600 potential jurors questioned, 12 jurors and 4 alternates were selected. Of the 16 members, there was 1 Black man, 3 white men, and 12 white women despite nearly 27% of Glynn County's population is Black.

Each defendant was given a life sentence, how much they will serve is up to the judge and that depends on whether the sentences come with the possibility for parole. According to reports, the attorneys for the trio plan to appeal. In the meantime, even if the possibility of parole is granted, murder convictions come with a mandatory 30 years in prison before a person could become eligible.

President Joe Biden said of the verdict Arbery's murder “is a devastating reminder of how far we have to go in the fight for racial justice in this country.” The President added the outcome reflected the justice system doing its job. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he hoped the guilty verdicts would help to “lead to a path of healing and reconciliation.”

 Tell us what think. Was this the right verdict? If not, what do you think it should've been? What do you think about the gun laws? Is it okay for citizens to take the law into their own hands? If so, how do we know how far is too far? If not, what needs to happen to stop things like this from happening in the future?

LOOK: Food history from the year you were born

From product innovations to major recalls, Stacker researched what happened in food history every year since 1921, according to news and government sources.
 

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