Town honors Ahmaud Arbery day after end of hate crimes case

Ahmaud Arbery is being honored by his hometown after stiff sentences for hate crimes against the white men who chased and killed him.

Dozens of people joined Arbery’s family on a sweltering street corner Tuesday as Brunswick city officials unveiled signs designating a 2.7-mile roadway as Honorary Ahmaud Arbery Street.

Two of the signs are placed at an intersection near the Brunswick African-American Cultural Center, where a mural of Arbery’s smiling face adorns a wall.

Arbery was fatally shot on Feb. 23, 2020, after being chased by three men, father and son, Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, in pickup trucks who wrongly suspected him of committing crimes.

Travis McMichael shot Arbery at close range with a shotgun, while Bryan recorded video on his cellphone.

Over two months passed before arrests were made after someone leaked the graphic cellphone video online.

The McMichaels were sentenced to life terms for hate crimes by a federal judge Monday.

Bryan got 35 years.

They were convicted on federal hate crime charges in February.

All three received life sentences in a Georgia court last November after being found guilty of Arbery’s murder.