THE GUARDIAN UK
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Prosecutors on Friday argued the three white men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old Black man shot dead in Georgia last year, placed him under a sustained attack and made a series of “assumptions and driveway decisions” that led to the killing.
During highly charged opening statements in the closely watched murder trial, now infamous cellphone video of the shooting was played to the court as Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, broke down in tears.
The video shows Travis McMichael opening fire three times on Arbery, who was unarmed, with a Remington 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.
The shooting happened in February 2020, on a quiet street in south-eastern Georgia, as he, his father and co-defendant Gregory McMichael and a family friend attempted to block the way for Arbery, who was on foot, while they pursued him in their vehicles.
Arbery, who was known to go jogging in the area, was described by prosecutors as “an avid runner” and the jury was told that evidence would show that the McMichaels had wrongly assumed the 25-year-old was attempting a burglary at a home that was under construction in the majority-white neighborhood of Satilla Shores.
“This was an attack on Mr Arbery for five minutes and the only thing Mr Arbery did was try to run away,” lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski told the jury of 11 white members and one Black member.
Gregory and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan have all pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment, in a case that was thrust into the global spotlight.
During detailed opening arguments Dunikoski told the jury that Gregory McMichael had informed police after the shooting that he called out to Arbery during the pursuit, “Stop or I’ll blow your fucking head off” and had also told police that Arbery had been “trapped like a rat” during their five-minute pursuit in two vehicles.
“We are here because of assumptions and driveway decisions,” Dunikoski said as all three defendants looked on.
“A very wise person once said do not assume the worst of another person’s intentions until you actually know what’s going on with them.”
She added: “And in this case, all three of these defendants did everything that they did based on assumptions. And they made decisions in their driveways based on assumptions that took a young man’s life and that’s why we are here.”
Dunikoski played multiple videos of Arbery inside the under-construction home, dating back to late August 2019, in an attempt to show that he had routinely run through the neighborhood and stopped off at the home but never stolen anything. The McMichaels’ fatal pursuit of Arbery occurred on 23 February 2020.
Dunikoski also played a 911 emergency call that Gregory McMichael made to police before Arbery was shot, in which he said: “I’m here in Satilla Shores. A Black male is running down the street.”
The prosecutor said that evidence would show both McMichaels had initially pursued Arbery in their white truck before driving ahead in an attempt to close him off, while Bryan had attacked Arbery by ramming him in a separate truck four times.
Prosecutors said evidence would show a palm print of Arbery’s on Bryan’s vehicle as well as white T-shirt fibres belonging to Arbery on the truck.
Arbery was then cornered by the three men and Travis McMichael pointed his shotgun before opening fire as Arbery continued to run.
On Friday morning, shortly after Dunikoski concluded her statements Bryan’s attorney, Kevin Gough, argued that the presiding judge, Timothy Walmsley, should declare a mistrial due to certain details disclosed about the initial investigation into the shooting during the opening. Walmsley declined.
Georgia’s response to Arbery’s killing has become part of a broader effort to address racial injustice in the criminal legal system after a string of fatal encounters between police and Black people such as George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.
Walmsley swore in the disproportionately white jury on Friday before proceedings began. Despite the county where the court is located having a substantial African American population of up to 30%, the jury pool was whittled down until only one Black person was seated on the panel, an outcome that the judge himself criticized.
Abery’s mother has called the imbalance in the jury “devastating”.
The trial continues.
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