Opening arguments in the trial of three white men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, began Friday — with a nearly all-white jury.
Opening arguments began Friday in the trial of three white men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man. Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. are accused of killing Arbery in February 2020 as he was jogging through a south Georgia neighborhood. Video of the incident captured by Bryan went viral and caused a huge public outcry. The trial has been marred with controversy from the get-go, with jury selection resulting in just a single Black person being seated alongside 11 white people. Glynn County, where the trial is being held, is more than 26 percent Black. Judge Timothy Walmsley suggested Wednesday that the jury’s racial makeup gave the appearance of “intentional discrimination,” but he claimed the next day that there was nothing he could do about it.
