BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Attorneys delivered their closing arguments Monday in the trial of three men accused in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery.
And following the proceedings, Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, spoke on the courthouse steps, calling out defense attorneys for the way they described her son.
“She described Ahmaud’s legs and his dirty long toenails. That was just beyond rude regardless of what size toenails he had. What size legs he had. That was still my son and my son was running for his life in that description and that was just flat out rude,” Cooper-Jones said.
As the closing arguments were underway inside the courtroom Monday, members of the New Black Panther Party marched around the courthouse.
The activists descended once again on Brunswick. This time, some of them are armed.
Defense attorneys even spoke with some of them during a lunch break.
“We are sick and tired of racist justice systems,” a member of the New Black Panthers said.
The courthouse step protests came as lawyers gave their closing arguments to jurors.
Greg and Travis McMichael, along with Roddie Bryan, are accused of killing Arbery as the unarmed jogger ran through their neighborhood.
They say they thought Arbery was a burglar and they wanted to hold him for police.
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“What was Ahmaud Arbery doing in Satilla Shores? There is no evidence he ever ran through that neighborhood to jog,” defense attorney Jason Sheffield said during his closing argument.
“Ladies and gentlemen, without Roddie Bryan there is no case,” defense attorney Kevin Gough said about his client. “Roddie Bryan is no vigilante.”
Prosecutors say all the blame goes to the three men and their “driveway decisions.”
“They shot and killed him not because he was a threat, but because he wouldn’t stop and talk to them,” special prosecutor Jennifer Dunikoski said.
Arbery’s mother became emotional at times, stepping out of the courtroom.
“You can’t start it with your driveway decisions and then, ‘Oh, I acted in self-defense,’” Dunikoski said.
Bryan’s attorney once again made a motion for mistrial, saying everything going on outside may have impacted the jury.
The judge again denied the repeated efforts.
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