BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Three white men were found guilty of murder Wednesday in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man whose killing last year helped fuel a national debate on racial profiling and vigilantism.

       Gregory McMichael, 65, his son, Travis McMichael, 35, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., 52, chased down Arbery in their pickup trucks as he ran through their Satilla Shores subdivision near the coastal port city of Brunswick before the younger McMichael shot him dead.

       The men later said that they were attempting to make a citizen’s arrest and that Travis McMichael was acting in self-defense, because he fired only after Arbery, in his final moments, had lunged for him and his gun.

       Greg McMichael, center, and his son, Travis McMichael, left, look at family members seated in the gallery when they walk into the courtroom for the reading of the jury’s verdicts in the Glynn County Courthouse on Nov. 24, 2021 in Brunswick, Ga.

       (Stephen B. Morton / Pool Photo)

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       People react outside the Glynn County Courthouse after guilty verdicts.

       (Sean Rayford / Getty Images)

       Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, is hugged by a supporter after the guilty verdicts.

       (Stephen B. Morton / Associated Press)

       A woman holds a sign during a rally to protest the shooting of Arbery in Brunswick.

       (Stephen B. Morton / Associated Press)

       Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, center, is hugged by his attorney Benjamin Crump after the jury convicted Travis McMichael in the Glynn County Courthouse.

       (Stephen B. Morton / Pool Photo)

       Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, stands with a painting of her son during a candlelight vigil in his honor at New Springfield Baptist Church in Waynesboro, Ga., in February, 2021.

       (Michael Holahan / Augusta Chronicle )

       Firearms expert Brian Leppard with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation examines a 12-gage Remington pump shotgun as part of the evidence during the trial in the Glynn County Courthouse.

       (Stephen B. Morton / Associated Press)

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       Attorney Laura Hogue, right, hugs Greg McMichael’s wife, Leigh McMichael, center, and his daughter, Lindsey McMichael, after the jury’s verdict in court.

       (Stephen B. Morton / Associated Press)

       People react to the appearance of Arbery’s family and its attorneys outside the Glynn County Courthouse after the guilty verdicts.

       (Sean Rayford / Getty Images)

       Wanda Cooper-Jones, attorney Lee Merritt, right, and the Rev. Al Sharpton are greeted outside the courthouse after the verdicts.

       (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)