BRUNSWICK, Ga. — As the hate crimes trial continues against the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery, there were signs Thursday that jurors may be struggling with the evidence that has been presented.
Channel 2′s Tony Thomas is in Brunswick and has been covering this case from the very beginning.
After court on Wednesday, Thomas said one juror asked the judge if there was federal money for counseling available.
The jury listened to racist language Wednesday allegedly used by the defendants and saw Arbery’s autopsy photos Thursday.
Arbery’s family told Thomas it has been rough seeing and hearing those things in court, but worth it in the end.
Wanda Cooper Jones, Arbery’s mother, said after listening to two days of testimony, she’s very confident her son died because of his race.
“Just stunned. Speechless,” was Cooper Jones’ reaction to the testimony.
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Thursday, Glynn County police officer Robert Rash took the stand, describing the multiple times he was called out to the Satilla Shores neighborhood after the man he knows now as Arbery was seen walking through a construction site.
“I first started in May of 2011,” Rash said.
The owner wanted the person cited for criminal trespass.
Greg and Travis McMichael insist they took off after Arbery, and ultimately shot him, when he wouldn’t stop because they thought he was a thief.
Prosecutors played bodycam video for the jury showing Rash telling the McMichaels 12 days before the shooting that Arbery was wanted only for trespassing.
“It’s always been just there. plundering around. He hasn’t seen him take anything,” Rash could be heard saying on the police body cam video played in the courtroom.
“Just to know that Ahmaud was killed because he was Black... Ahmaud didn’t know that he was targeted,” Cooper-Jones said.
Defense attorneys insist race played no role in this murder.
Leigh McMichael, Greg’s wife and Travis’ mother, has been in court each day. She comes in and out with an escort and refuses to talk.
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