Our justice system has failed recently in spectacular, dispiriting ways, but today there was real justice for the three white men who hunted down and murdered Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The three men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in coastal Georgia last year were convicted of murder Wednesday, in a case that once went 74 days without arrests and that many saw as a test of racial bias in the justice system.

The decision was read to the court shortly after 1:30 p.m., following less than two days of deliberations. Members of Arbery’s family cried out with joy.

Travis McMichael, his father, Greg McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were all convicted of felony murder in the shooting of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man — meaning they committed felonies that caused his death. They were also found guilty of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and attempt to falsely imprison. But Bryan and the elder McMichael were acquitted of malice murder, which involves intent to kill. Each defendant now faces a potential penalty of life in prison without parole.

All men still face federal hate crime charges.

This was another case in which the right wing tried like hell to smear the victim and taint the jury. They failed — this time.

Never forget that after the racists gunned down Ahmaud Arbery, Andy Ngo used his platform minimize the murder and apparently try and make it appear justified: pic.twitter.com/qHLeI60Utu

— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) November 24, 2021