Murder trial for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery set to begin with jury selection in Georgia
(CNN)Three White men accused of chasing down and killing Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man out for a jog, are set to stand trial for murder in Georgia this week in a case thick with issues of racism, self-defense and cellphone video.
Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. are charged with malice and felony murder and have pleaded not guilty. They also face charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Jury selection in their state trial begins Monday.
Arbery was fatally shot February 23, 2020, while out jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, in an incident partly captured on video. The McMichaels said they were conducting a citizen's arrest on Arbery, who they suspected of burglary, and that Travis McMichael shot him with a shotgun in self-defense. Bryan, who recorded the video, allegedly hit Arbery with his truck after he joined the McMichaels in chasing Arbery.
After the shooting, the three men were allowed to leave the scene and weren't arrested until after video of the incident was made public in early May.
The video and the delay in making the arrests, along with the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor last year, helped spark nationwide Black Lives Matter protests that challenged how the legal system treats Black people.
The McMichaels and Bryan have also been indicted on federal hate crime and attempted kidnapping charges. They have pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
With its focus on video evidence, the case bears some resemblance to the murder trial of ex-Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder in Floyd's death. In addition, the issues of vigilantism and self-defense offer similarities to the trial of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who was acquitted in 2013 of killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
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Ahmaud Arbery: Murder trial for the killing of 25-year-old Black man set to begin with jury selection in Georgia - CNN
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