Protests in Arbery’s name were key to charges and convictions in Georgia, expert says

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The three men on trial for the killing of jogger Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020 face mandatory sentences of life in prison after being pronounced guilty yesterday in a Brunswick, Georgia, courtroom. 

Alvin Tillery is a professor of political science and director of the Center for Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University. Professor Tillery is available to comment on the outcome of the trial as it relates to the national Black Lives Matter movement. He can be reached at alvin.tillery@northwestern.edu or by contacting Stephanie Kulke at 773-501-4360. Tillery is available only for audio interviews on Thanksgiving Day.

Quote from Professor Tillery
“The guilty verdicts in the trials of the three men who stalked and murdered Ahmaud Arbery while he was jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, are an important moment for the Black Lives Matter movement. Were it not for the protests in Mr. Arbery’s name, the three men who killed him would have never been charged, let alone held accountable for their vigilante actions on that day.

“The jury’s verdict also shows that, like in the George Floyd case, juries have an easier time convicting white assailants in racialized killings when the video evidence is clear and compelling. The Arbery trial was also unique because of the effective job done by the prosecution and the judge in the case at countering the racialized narratives that the defense attorneys relied on to sow doubt with the mostly white jury.”