Jury selection kicks off in Ahmaud Arbery case

Prosecutors expect it will take weeks to find 12 impartial jurors and four alternates for the trial of three Georgia men accused of murdering an unarmed black man. Prosecutors claim 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog in February 2020 when former police officer Greg McMichael and son Travis grabbed shotguns and chased him in their truck. Neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan joined them and recorded the altercation on his phone. The three said they suspected Arbery of recently burgling a nearby home. Video shows Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times. The McMichaels and Bryan said they acted in self-defense and pleaded not guilty to charges of malice and felony murder, hate crimes, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment.

How will the jury selection process go? Glynn County, Ga., court officials mailed out 1,000 jury duty notices, including a three-page questionnaire asking what individuals already know about the case, which websites or social media platforms they use to get the news, and whether they posted anything about Arbery’s death. The incident—along with the fact that police did not arrest the suspects until months afterward—fueled nationwide protests. Due to pandemic concerns, the courthouse will summon potential jurors in groups of 20 for attorneys on both sides to question them.

Dig deeper: Read Sophia Lee’s coverage of violence in the Pacific Northwest after a year of racial unrest.