Tensions flare in Arbery death trial as Jesse Jackson visits

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A judge is denying requests to declare a mistrial in the case of three white men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery. Tensions flared Monday as the Rev. Jesse Jackson joined the slain Black man’s parents in court. Defense attorneys said jurors could have been tainted when they heard weeping in the gallery and saw the civil rights icon sitting with Arbery’s family. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley denied the requests and said it was “reprehensible” how a defense lawyer complained about Black pastors in the courtroom. A cellphone video of Arbery’s death on Feb. 23, 2020, deepened a national outcry over racial injustice.