BRUNSWICK, Ga. — As the jury started deliberations Tuesday within the trial over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, native leaders and out-of-town supporters of the Arbery family stated that they had been anxious, but held out hope that the defendants can be convicted of no less than some fees.
“On one hand, we are hopeful that the outcome will end in a verdict that says all three men are guilty,” stated John Perry III, an area pastor. “But now that we are waiting for the verdict to come through, there’s a heaviness of heart, because we don’t know what that verdict will be.”
The small crowd exterior the courthouse included friends and relations of the Arbery family and the identical native activists who’ve appeared commonly because the trial started almost two weeks in the past. The group, numbering just a few dozen on Tuesday, was smaller than Monday’s crowd, which was made up largely of out-of-town protesters and members of the New Black Panther Party. Mr. Arbery’s family and their attorneys requested on Monday night that individuals gathered exterior the courthouse stay peaceable.
Supporters of the Arbery family stated on Tuesday that they thought the prosecutor, Linda Dunikoski, had carried out a superb job all through the trial, but that the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wis., final week made them nervous about how issues would go in Brunswick.
Marcus Arbery, Ahmaud Arbery’s father, stated that what he had seen within the courtroom was “devastating,” and that he felt assured that the jury would return a guilty verdict. Wanda Cooper-Jones, Ahmaud Arbery’s mom, stated she thought Ms. Dunikoski’s closing arguments had been “fantastic” and that the prosecutor had introduced the proof properly.
“I do think that we will come back with a guilty verdict, and I want to leave with this: God has brought us this far, and he’s not going to fail us now,” Ms. Cooper-Jones stated. “We will get justice for Ahmaud.”
Her lawyer, Lee Merritt, echoed her sentiments. “We’re confident that this jury will seriously consider all the evidence and come back with a verdict that is reflective of what actually happened, which is the brutal and unjustified murder of Ahmaud Arbery,” he stated.
