蜜芽传媒

Three white men have been found guilty of killing a black jogger, Ahmaud Arbery, in Georgia last year in a case that became a rallying cry to racial justice protesters. The defendants said they acted in self-defence during a citizen's arrest. Prosecutors said race was a factor. The men now face minimum sentences of life in prison.

Justin Hansford, Associate Professor of Law at Howard Universty School of Law in Washington DC, says that the case should be seen in the context of other trials, including one concerning Karl Rittenhouse, a teenager who was cleared of murder during racial unrest in Wisconsin. He says that these show that the US legal system is not set up to deal with cases of racial justice, and that vigilantes, where private citizens rather than the police take it upon themselves to deal with perceived threats and unrest, is a growing problem and needs to be tackled.

"We see the legal system trying to grapple with these profound issues of racial justice."

Photo shows: Annie Polite puts on a button for Ahmaud Arbery outside the Glynn County Courthouse as the jury deliberates in the trial of the killers of Ahmaud Arbery on November 24, 2021. Credit: Getty Images

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