By Julia Urquizo
GLYNN COUNTY, GA – NAACP CEO and President Derrick Johnson and NAACP Georgia State Conference President Barbara Pierce released a statement last week announcing their concern with racial discrimination in the jury selection process for the Ahmaud Arbery case.
Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan are on trial for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was shot three times. Video evidence showed Ahmaud Arbery jogging in Glynn County, Georgia, toward the McMichael’s pickup truck stationed down the road where the deadly encounter ensued.
Gregory McMichael told police he believed Arbery was a suspect of local break-ins happening at the time.
The NAACP referenced the 1986 Batson v. Kentucky United States Supreme Court case which states, “[s]election procedures that purposely exclude black people from jurors undermine public trust in the impartiality of our system of justice.”
According to the NAACP, although the judge stated on the record there appeared to be intentional discrimination with the jury selection process, the judge allowed the case to proceed with 11 white jurors.
The NAACP states they will monitor the case closely and are hopeful the jury can arrive at a clear-cut conclusion based on the evidence presented during the trial.
