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The jury’s selection begins on Monday for the three Georgian men accused of death Ahmod Arbury, more than a year and a half after he was shot while running through a neighborhood near his home.
Arbury’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, has long claimed that her son was targeted and killed by three white men because of his race.
“I think Ahmaud was killed because he was black,” she told CBS This morning. “He ran through a mostly white neighborhood and was targeted.”
Greg and Travis McMichael, a white father and son, are believed to have armed themselves and chased 25-year-old Arbury in a pickup truck after seeing him fleeing their neighborhood outside Brunswick, Georgia on February 23, 2020.
Following behind, neighbor William “Roddy” Brian recorded the incident by shooting a video from a mobile phone in which Travis McMichael fired at Arbury up close with a rifle. They said they believed Arbury was a thief.
RELATED: Justice Department accuses Ahmaud Arbery’s killers of hate crimes, kidnapping charges
“Everyone who’s watched the video is just saying that Ahmod didn’t do anything wrong,” Cooper-Jones said.
Asked if she believed an impartial jury could be chosen in the trial of the three men, Cooper-Jones said she was concerned.
“I have concerns that jurors will be elected by this community,” she said. “In the beginning there was a lot of wrong communication about what happened that day, but I hope we will find the right people in the right place to make the right decision.”
Immediately after the shooting, McMichaels and Brian were released and not charged until the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case. In May 2020, all three were charged with murder and will face trial on February 7, 2022.
In addition, all three men have been charged with federal hate crimes and attempted kidnapping.
Cooper-Jones’s lawyer Lee Merritt said jurors “should reflect the diversity of the Brunswick community near where the crime took place.”
“Just because you’ve heard about this case just because you’ve expressed an opinion on the case doesn’t mean you can’t put that opinion aside and say ‘I can be fair.’ And that’s the legal standard, “he said.
According to CBS News, the selection of the jury may take more than two weeks, as 1,000 people were called.
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