(Washington) African-American pastors and civil rights icons protested outside court in Brunswick, southern United States, Thursday, where three white men are on trial for the murder of a black jogger.
This show of force, organized in response to controversial comments from a defense lawyer, illustrated the racial dimension of the case that the parties are struggling to keep out of the trial.
“We have a duty to speak out when we see injustice,” said Martin Luther King III, the son of the famous Nobel Peace Prize winner, who joined dozens of pastors. “We will keep coming until justice is served!” », He promised.
PHOTO STEPHEN B. MORTON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Martin Luther King III
“We need pastors to pray and bring some sanity to this inhuman situation,” famous lawyer Ben Crump also told the crowd, denouncing “the lynching” of Ahmaud Arbery.
The 25-year-old black man was chased and shot in February 2020 by Gregory McMichael, his son Travis and their neighbor William Bryan, while running in a residential area in Brunswick, Georgia.
Tried for murder, the three men plead not guilty, claiming to have taken him for a burglar and to have acted under a local law authorizing ordinary citizens to make arrests.
But the affair took on a national dimension, the name of Ahmaud Arbery resonating in all the demonstrations of the anti-racist movement Black Lives Matter (“Black lives matter”).
In this context, the Reverend Al Sharpton, a figure of the African-American community, came last week to support the parents of the jogger.
William Bryan’s lawyer had taken offense to his presence. “We do not want other black pastors to come here”, had launched Me Kevin Gough, accusing him of wanting to influence jurors.
Thursday’s protest was a response to his comments.
It took place just after the author of the fatal shots, 35-year-old Travis McMichael, delivered his version of the drama. He told how, with his father, he caught up with Ahmaud Arbery in a van.
He assured that the young man had refused to answer him. “His jaw was contracted, he seemed crazy”, “it was obvious that he was going to attack me”, he said, very moved before assuring: “It was a situation of life or of death ”, without however being able to detail a precise threat.
His co-defendants did not speak and defense lawyers concluded their presentation with testimonies from neighbors worried about the insecurity in their neighborhood.
The trial will resume Monday with the indictment of the prosecutors and the argument of the defense. The twelve jurors, including one black man, will then retire to deliberate.