On Wednesday morning Nov 24 2021, three Georgia men were found guilty on up to nine charges related to the aggravated assault and murder of Ahmaud Arbery- almost a year and half since his senseless murder.

   Reverend Al Sharpton and the parents of Arbery addressed the eager crowd outside of the courthouse. CNN reported Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, as saying, “I just want to say thank you guys, It’s been a long fight. It’s been a hard fight, but God is good.”

   The police report for Arbery’s murder stated that On Feb 23, 2020, Ahmuad Arbery was running down Satilla Drive on one of his usual afternoon jogs.

   Gregory McMichael, who was in his front yard, reportedly thought that Arbery looked like the culprit of a few local break-ins and ran inside of his house calling out to his son, “Travis the guy is running down the street let’s go.” Gregory and Travis McMichael ran to their car with a .357 magnum and a shotgun respectively. They then started following Arbery in their truck and attempted to cut him off with one of the two jumping out of the car attempting to block Arbery who then turned around and ran back the way he came. The two then resumed their vehicular pursuit and reportedly shouted, “Stop, we want to talk to you”.

   A video of Arbery’s murder was made public and in that video the McMichaels stopped the car in front of Ahmuad. Travis McMichael stepped out of the driver’s side door holding a shotgun and attempting to block Arbery from passing him. Arbery then continued to approach the vehicle and circled it from the right attacking Travis. The two fought for a short time before moving off screen where a gunshot can be heard. The two then move back on screen still fighting until Arbery separates himself from McMichael and attempts to run away before falling to the ground where he remains motionless for the duration of the video. The investigation would later prove that Arbery’s cause of death was a shotgun wound.

   Initially the shooting had very little coverage outside of the small Georgia town where it took place. This continued until a video of Arbery’s murder was posted nearly two months later. The footage spread like a wildfire and the fact that no one had been arrested sparked national outrage. This outrage was so widespread that on May 7 2020, two days after the video had surfaced, Gregory and Travis McMichael were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault.

   By this point the Georgia Attorney General had requested a federal investigation noting in a statement that the investigations were, “not limited to, investigation of the communications and discussions by and between the Office of the District Attorney of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit and the Office of the District Attorney of the Waycross Judicial Circuit related to this case.” This was the true start of the legal proceedings that were finally concluded almost a year and a half later. At long last the truth of Arbery’s death and his legacy were acknowledged by law.