BRUNSWICK - A woman who describes herself as a “Never Trumper” and a man who insists the 2020 election was stolen from the former president found common ground Thursday afternoon in a Glynn County courtroom.
Both were among the five people seated as potential jurors in the trial of three men charged with murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s shooting.
Also qualified during Thursday’s marathon court session were a young woman who never graduated, a man who said he went to school with Arbery and a woman who didn’t mince words on her jury questionnaire.
“They hunted him down and killed him like an animal,” wrote juror No. 199.
All five told attorneys they were familiar with the case, but said they could set aside their opinions and remain impartial if they’re selected to serve in the widely publicized, closely watched trial. They move into a pool of 64 potential jurors. Once that pool is chosen, attorneys on both sides will use their allotted strikes, reducing the group to 12 jurors and four alternates ahead of opening statements, which could begin next week.
Those chosen will be tasked with deciding if Travis McMichael, his father Greg, and their neighbor Roddie Bryan, are guilty of murder and other charges in the 25-year-old’s shooting.
Arbery, who was unarmed, was killed in the Satilla Shores neighborhood just outside Brunswick after the McMichaels, who suspected him in a string of neighborhood break-ins, grabbed their guns and chased him in a pickup truck. Bryan got in his own truck, joined in the pursuit and filmed the cellphone video of the fatal shooting.
Juror 195, the self-described “Never Trumper,” was one of two people who raised their hands Thursday morning when asked whether they wanted to serve on the case. The other was Juror 205, who said he stopped watching the news after last year’s presidential election.
“Trump got robbed. I know that for a fact,” he said.
He said he initially believed Arbery’s shooting was unjustified, but that a 20/20 special swayed his opinion. Asked how felt about the case on Thursday, the man described it as a “tied ballgame.”
Jury selection resumes Friday morning.
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