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Judge Timothy Walmsley: Jury Approved
Photo: POOL / REUTERS
In the murder trial for the death of the black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, only one African-American jury will sit on the twelve-person jury.
The lawyers of the three accused white men blocked eleven of the twelve black candidates from selecting the jury.
After a selection process that lasted more than two weeks, the judge finally approved the jury.
"Ahmaud Arbery has been denied justice again after he was hunted, cornered and shot in a white neighborhood for being a black man," noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump. "The fate of his murderers is now decided by an almost exclusively white jury." Black jury candidates were excluded in a "cynical attempt" to prevent the accused from being held accountable, Crump said.
The judge admitted that the lawyers of the three white defendants appeared to have deliberately discriminated against the jury. But there were also other reasons for the rejection, which is why the process could be continued. She was shocked that there was only one black juror, the broadcaster CNN quoted Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones. That is "devastating".
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot and killed while jogging in Brunswick on February 23 last year.
However, the investigation didn't really get going until more than two months later, when the case received widespread attention through a disturbing cell phone video.
A little later - on May 25, 2020 - the African American George Floyd was killed in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Afterwards there were protests against racism and also against police violence in the USA for months.
Defendants plead not guilty
In the Arbery case, suspect Gregory M. and his adult son Travis were arrested after the video of the attack became public.
According to investigators, they first followed Arbery with their vehicle and then threatened them with firearms.
The third defendant, William R., had filmed the crime, according to investigators.
The three defendants have pleaded not guilty.
They are expected to argue during the trial that they acted in self-defense.
kim / dpa / AFP
