At Ahmaud Arbery murder trial, Black pastors and churches challenged
22nd November 2021 · 0 Comments
By Pat Bryant
Contributing Writer
A modern day lynching is what Civil Rights and Freedom Movement leaders are calling the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the trial of three white men accused of the murder.
And on Thursday, November 18, more than 1,000 Black pastors, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and other religions from communities across the United States assembled outside the courthouse of the trial following statements in court made by defense attorney Kevin Gough who asked Judge Timothy Walmsley to limit high profile black pastors from attending the trial.
Gough suggested that Black pastors could intimidate jurors.
“We don’t want any more Black pastors in here,” said Gough.
Black pastors and other clergy gathered on Thursday, November 18 outside of the court house in Brunswick, Georgia, where three men are on trail for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery following a demand by a member of the defense team that the judge limit Black pastors from attending the trial.
Photo by Pat Bryant
The Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network had been in court the previous day. The Rev. Jesse Jackson has also sat with the Arbery family in the courtroom.
In response to Attorney Gough’s statement, Atty. Barbara Arnwine, president of the Transformative Justice Coalition called on pastors from around the country to attend the trial in Brunswick, Ga.
Local pastors across Georgia and Florida also issued a call for clergy to assemble in Brunswick. Among them, Jamal Bryant in Atlanta, pastor Jeffrey Dove of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Ocala, Fla., and Florida AME Bishop Frank Reid Jr.
“The Black Church is uniquely positioned to lift a moral voice, moral vision, and expose some of the fundamental contradictions that exist in American public life,” says the Rev. Jeffrey Dove of Jacksonville.
Rev. Gregory Moss, a former Charlotte North Carolina pastor and former executive director of the Lott Carey Missionary Society, said “We must stand against this overt, racist attempt to prejudice the jury and further deny and diminish our rights as citizens to attend public proceedings.”
“It is important because we are for right and we need to stand for what his right. Right is right and wrong is wrong. It we are going to be pastors we have to stand for right,” said Jacksonville, Fla., pastor of North side Church of Christ the Rev. Charlie McClendon.
Another cleric made similar remarks. “It is important for me to be here because I am a Black man, a Muslim, and because I care for the young people in our country and let them know that people like me. They have a fear of blacks and because Black pastors are there they know that we have God in our lives. Many of them are afraid of this’, said Brother Raul of Waycross, Ga.
Ruby Arbery, Ahmaud’s aunt, welcomed freedom fighters saying, “We are fighting the justice system here. We need a lot of support in the case of my nephew and support from all over the world. They are still doing what they were doing 400 years ago. We aren’t taking it anymore. No Justice no peace.
Mrs. Annie Polite, who is 87-years old, said “I guess that they realize Black ministers have a hand for God. This is all God’s plan. We need to be involved. Mrs. Polite wheels around on a walker everyday at the courthouse making others comfortable and engaging anyone who will in conversation.
Iris Jones, a mother and aunt of several Black men who lives in Florida, says she grew up in 60, 70, 80’s Washington, D.C. and heard saw of instances of brutality to blacks in the country. “Enough is enough. If we sit down and do nothing it is just like not participating. We have do get involved to make a change.”
Prophet Chris Trader from Atlanta said, “We have to stand up for justice. It does not matter where it happened. It could have been my child or your child.”
Defendants William “Rody” Bryan, Gregory and Travis McMichael, all of whom are white, are accused of hunting down and killing 25 year old Black jogger, Ahmaud Arbery. The three men are charged with nine felonies including murder and aggravated assault.
Prosecutors began the trial by recounting what happened. After leaving a construction site an unarmed Arbery jogged by two armed white men in trucks and a third man operating a video camera. Five minutes of chasing Arbery back and forth in a residential block between two trucks, the chase ends with one defendant, Travis Michael, stepping from the truck with a shotgun pointed at Arbery. A struggle ensued and Arbery was fatally shot. Police summoned by the killers, did nothing to save Arbery’s life as he lay dying on ground.
The defense’s argument is that the accused acted in self-defense. They were making a citizen’s arrest because they believed Arbery had burglarized the construction site.
On last Thursday, the defense rested its case after calling Travis McMichael to the stand as well as six neighbors who talked about crime in the Satilla Shores community.
Travis McMichael, the triggerman testified thought Arbery may have been guilty of a crime, maybe burglary of the construction site. Video from the site showed Arbery walking through, looking, but taking nothing. Lawyers claim the men were making a citizens arrest, Arbery resisted, and the white men were defending themselves.
On cross-examination of Travis McMichael, prosecutors focused on what they believe are inconsistencies in courtroom testimony and earlier statements made to Glyn County Sheriff and Georgia Bureau of investigation.
Trial prosecutor Linda Dunikoski picked apart Travis McMichael self-defense claim. Dunikoski got McMichael to admit that he did not call police before he chased Ahmaud Arbery, knew of no crime that had been committed, did not see any weapon the jogger had, and after a five minute chase a confrontation in which Travis held a shotgun, Arbery was killed. Travis told investigators “we trapped him like a rat.”
Hearing the evidence is the jury comprised of eleven whites and one Black. All jurors must agree on defendants’ guilt or innocence for conviction or acquittal.
Brunswick’s population is home to 16,122 people of which 56 percent are Black. The largest industries are Sea Island Company that markets its beaches and resorts, Southeast Georgia Health System, and Brunswick Cellouse (Georgia Pacific), a polluting paper company that spoils this area’s natural beauty, especially the air and water. Brunswick is the County seat of Glyn County which has a population of 69 percent white, 26 percent Black, and six percent Latino.
Ahmaud Arbery’s mother and father were present in the courthouse each day flanked by lawyers and sometimes commenting with reporters gathered outside on matters at trial.
Among a network of community leaders fighting for conviction of the three accused murderers is Dana Roberts Beckham, founder and leader of Genoa Martin Friends of Historic Selden Park Association. A recent graduate of College of Coastal Georgia with a degree in psychology and community organizational leadership, Dana tirelessly battles racism and environmental destruction in this sleepy town mirrors many other towns in America.
“The majority of the Black community is not involved in social justices (struggles) in our city because our town lacks the kind of leadership to raise up warriors (to battle) social injustices …such as environmental racism, medical racism, housing racism, educational racism, mass incarceration, food desserts and other facets of racism,” said Ms. Roberts Beckham.
Rabi Rachael Bergman of Temple Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick is co-founder Glyn Clergy for Equity, an ecumenical group founded after the Ahmaud Arbery murder. The ministerial group has agitated law enforcement and the courts for justice. The group trains clergy to engage in dialogue about racism through its equity dinners. Clergy have been outside the courthouse during hearings. Whites and Blacks gather outside courthouse daily supporting the many members of the Arbery family.
Rabi Bergman said this case is important. “This case is going to be a referendum on what is acceptable in the South. The case will mark a turning point in history in which a Black man can get a fair trial.
Pat Bryant is a longtime journalist who covers events in the Southern United States.
This article originally published in the November 22, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
