BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Jurors in the trial over Ahmaud Arbery's death watched security camera videos from a home under construction that the 25-year-old Black man was seen running from before he was fatally shot.
Property owner Larry English said in prerecorded testimony that his camera recorded Arbery at the construction site five times between October 2019 and Feb. 23, 2020, the day Arbery was killed by white men who pursued him in pickup trucks.
English says there's no sign Arbery took anything from his property.
Cameras recorded others in the house during the same period.
Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael told police they suspected Arbery was a burglar.
They're charged with murder, along with neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan.
Their defense attorneys objected Thursday, on more than one occasion, to more than one pastor attending the trial with Arbery's family.
“There’s only so many pastors they can have. If they have Pastor Al Sharpton right now, then that’s fine. That’s it. We don’t want any more Black pastors coming in here or Jessie Jackson, or whoever was in here earlier this week, sitting with the victim’s family trying to influence a jury in this case," said Kevin Gough, defense attorney for Bryan.
The judge said he wouldn't "blanketly exclude members of the public from his courtroom.
In response to the objections, Sparton released a statement that says, "The arrogant insensitivity of attorney Kevin Gough in asking a judge to bar me or any minister of the family’s choice underscores the disregard for the value of the human life lost and the grieving of a family in need spiritual and community support."
After Thursday's proceedings, Arbery's mother said she has confidence in the jury.
“I don’t think that anything can sway the jury," Wanda Jones-Cooper said. "I think that if the jury takes the evidence that the state presents, that we will get justice for Ahmaud."
