Racial reckoning looms large in Arbery trial

BRUNSWICK, GA. — A framed photo on the wall of Travis Riddle's soul food restaurant shows the local sheriff arresting a gray-bearded white man with hands cuffed behind his back, a reminder to all who enter that for Riddle, justice still waits to be served in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery.

It shows Greg McMichael on the day last year that he and his son, Travis McMichael, were jailed on murder charges in the 25-year-old Black man's killing.

The McMichaels are charged with chasing Arbery in a pickup and fatally shooting him after spotting him running in their neighborhood. More than two months passed before their arrests after video of the shooting was leaked online and sparked a national outcry.

Jury selection in the murder trial of the McMichaels and William "Roddie" Bryan, a neighbor who joined the pursuit and took the video, begins Monday. For many, it's not just the three white defendants on trial, but rather a justice system that allowed them to remain free for weeks after they pursued and killed a Black man.

"You've got the corruption, then the good ol' boy system, then the racism — that's how I see it," said Riddle, who hopes to break away from his restaurant to attend some of the trial.

"It's shaken the faith of the Black and brown community in their ability to trust the justice system," said the Rev. John Perry, who was president of the Brunswick NAACP chapter when Arbery was killed.

Arbery's death on Feb. 23, 2020, later became part of the broader reckoning on racial injustice in the criminal legal system after a string of fatal encounters between Black people and police — George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks, among others. Akeem Baker, a close friend of Arbery's, still takes runs on the 23rd day of each month for a distance of exactly 2.23 miles to keep his memory alive.

"I have to believe that this is going to bring needed changes to Brunswick and to the nation, in terms of racial justice," Baker said.

The McMichaels and Bryan are charged with nine counts each, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and other crimes. The men told police they used pickup trucks to keep Arbery from fleeing the Satilla Shores neighborhood. Security cameras in an open-framed house under construction had previously recorded Arbery on the site, and they suspected he was stealing.

Greg McMichael, a retired investigator for the area district attorney, can be seen playing up his law enforcement ties on recordings taken by police bodycams on officers dispatched to the scene. Prosecutors contend Arbery was merely jogging on a street just 2 miles from his home. They say he was unarmed and police found no evidence he had stolen anything.

What remains to be seen is how much prosecutors emphasize evidence of racism in Arbery's killing. At a court hearing last year, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent testified that Bryan told investigators he witnessed Travis McMichael stand over Arbery and utter a racist slur while Arbery bled in the street from three shotgun blasts. Travis McMichael's attorneys deny that.

Investigators also found text messages on Travis McMichael's cellphone from a year before the shooting in which he used the slur twice in one exchange. Prosecutors included the texts in evidence filed in the public court record, but haven't requested to use them during the trial.

Meanwhile, defense attorneys want the judge to block prosecutors from showing the jury photos of the truck the McMichaels used to chase Arbery, which show a front bumper vanity plate of Georgia's former state flag with the Confederate battle emblem.

Attorneys for the McMichaels and Bryan have insisted they committed no crimes, saying they had reason to suspect Arbery was a burglar and were legally trying to stop him. At the time, Georgia law allowed arrests by private citizens. They contend Travis McMichael shot Arbery in self-defense after Arbery attacked him with his fists and grappled for his gun. "The jury will see this case is simply about protecting one's neighbors and oneself," said Jason Sheffield, an attorney for Travis McMichael.

Arbery's family contends he was targeted because of his race. His relatives cheered when the U.S. Justice Department brought federal hate crimes charges against the McMichaels and Bryan in April. A separate trial is set for February.

"Race will be all over this case," said Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney for the Arbery family. "The nation is going to get a front row seat into where culturally Glynn County, Georgia, is in 2021, or where it was in 2020 at the very least."