Black Pastors Rally, Pray Outside Trial Of Ahmaud Arbery Slaying Suspects

BRUNSWICK, GA — Spurred by the words of attorneys defending the three white men on trial for murder in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a coalition of hundreds of ministers gathered outside the courtroom to pray and support his family.

“Could you please say his name?” Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones said Thursday following prayer at the rally outside the Glynn County Courthouse.

“Ahmaud Arbery,” the crowd shouted.

The call and response repeated twice more at the rally before the group ministers, activists and supporters stepped away from the courthouse to march through Downtown Brunswick, some marchers chanting “No justice, no peace.”

On Feb. 23, 2020, William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael set in a pair of pickup trucks after Arbery, who was on foot, believing the 25-year-old Black man responsible for break-ins in their neighborhood and they intended to make a citizen’s arrest while police were called. The pursuit devolved into a conflict between the armed McMichaels and the unarmed Arbery, and claiming self-defense, Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery.

Now the three men stand trial for murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment before a disproportionately white jury.

See Also: Arbery Shooter Travis McMichael Calls Fight For Gun Life Or Death

When civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton accompanied Cooper-Jones and Arbery’s father Marcus Arbery Sr. last week, followed days later by Jackson, defense attorneys balked demanding a mistrial. Bryan’s attorney Kevin Gough told the court he didn’t “want any more Black pastors” in the courtroom, accusing the two ministers of being there to “intimidate” and “influence” the jury.

Before the march began, Sharpton called the indictments levied against them “interesting.”

“I’ve been to trials for 40 years when police were involved and they packed a courtroom with uniformed police,” he said. “And nobody ever said that’s intimidation or influence. So if this lawyer sets a precedent with us, then he sets a precedent that we can judge whoever’s in a courtroom anywhere in the United States. What he said is not good for anybody.”

Gough complained from inside the courtroom that the rally was rowdy, calling it “so loud outside the courthouse you could hear what was being said in the courtroom.”

As the crowd grew outside, the Rev. Jesse Jackson once again joined Arbery’s family in the courtroom. Criticizing the failed attempt to keep black pastors out of court, Sharpton told the rally that no one had questioned who is sitting with the defendants’ families.

“No lawyer can knock us out. Because no matter where you are, God is there,“ he said. “We are going to keep coming until we get justice.”

Church vans from a wide range of denominations were parked along streets around the courthouse. The Rev. Gregory Edwards was broadcasting a Facebook Live video back to his friends in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he is pastor of the Resurrected Life Community Church, United Church of Christ.

As soon as the call for pastors to come to Brunswick went out, Edwards said, he rearranged his schedule to fly down.

“I would have walked,” said Edwards, who also runs a multifaith, multiracial community organizing group. Edwards said he cried when he saw the video of Arbery’s shooting death and thought of his three Black adult sons.

“Through technology, we have been forced to bear witness to the public executions of our Black brothers and sisters,” Edwards said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.