By Rich McKay

BRUNSWICK, Georgia (Reuters) – Brunswick, Georgia’s community leaders have been pleading unity for three of their white suspects, who are accused of racially motivated killing in the shooting death of a Black jogger.

On Monday, jury selection will begin for the trial that is expected to attract hundreds of demonstrators outside the courthouse. Outrage erupted across the country after Ahmaud, 25, was shot to death on February 23, 2020.

“After the trial has ended and the buses-loads full of protestors and media go, we have to still live here. Allen Booker is the Black Glynn County’s commissioner and represents Brunswick.

Gregory McMichael (65), his son Travis McMichael (35) and William Bryan (52) are all charged with the crime of murder. They all have pleaded innocent. If convicted, they could spend their entire lives in prison.

Brunswick’s 16,000 population is proud of its status as “Model City”, thanks to the cooperation between local Black and White leaders in desegregating schools, grocery shops, and other facilities, even though racial tensions gripped southern cities during the 1960s, 1970s.

The trial will likely be dominated by the question of race. Prosecutors allege that Arbery died because of racial motivations.

Arbery’s story, along with other high-profile murders of George Floyd in 2020 by law enforcement led to months of national protests against police brutality and racial injustice in America.

Bryan McMichaels said that they thought Arbery was burglar and pursued him in pick-up trucks through suburban neighborhoods. Bryan captured the incident on cell phone video. Arbery tried to flee but was stopped by Travis McMichael who had a shotgun. He then attacked McMichael and killed him.

McMichael will be defending himself during trial. However, civil rights activists and Arbery’s family claim it was another case of an attack against a Black man.

Ahmaud’s father Marcus Arbery told Reuters that Ahmaud died because he was a Black Brunswick resident. Ahmaud stood with a portrait a stranger had sent to him in the bedroom.

Arbery (58), said that “There is a God watching” and will make everything right. He plans to shut down most of his landscaping company so he can be there every day.

Arbery claimed he keeps “an intense feeling of rage” in check, which he believes is due to the “love thy neighbour” religious axiom.

    With a phone that never seems to stop ringing, Arbery’s aunt, Thea Brooks, 37, is organizing demonstrations to take place outside the courthouse during the trial.

Standing in front of a dozen signs, she stated that “We want justice but not conflict.”

    As some townsfolk fear outsiders could use the protests to stir trouble, Brooks says her message to everyone is “Keep calm.”

KEEPING PEACE

Brunswick’s community leaders, who are predominantly Black and one of Georgia’s poorest, have adopted a similar message to peace. This is because they recognize that the trial could cause chaos in a place that has avoided violent protests last year that followed the killings by police of Black men.

Cedric King, a community organizer and entrepreneur, stated that a group of around 20 black and white clergy would stand in front of the courthouse each day to keep peace between demonstrators.

“We recognize that this tragedy is terrible, but we don’t want to see angry people in the spotlight for three minutes.” he stated. “We are mobilising to discourage this. “We’ll be there.”

He explained that the Glynn County School System has hired consultants to help teachers talk to students about the trial.

A local organization called Community 1st was created to help the county with social issues. It has now joined with the Chamber of Commerce to produce a TV commercial with local business leaders and social media with the theme “We’re better together.”

“WE’RE PEACEFUL. STICK TO OUR OWN”

Brunswick has a 55% Black population, and the Glynn County around it is 80%. The economic segregation in the country is severe. Brunswick is a prosperous county with a median income just $18,000 per year.

Some neighborhoods, aside from the Victorian-era red brick buildings of downtown, are filled with dilapidated houses with boards-up windows and sagging roofs.

Residents in Satilla Shores are concerned about the portrayal of their neighborhood by the trial. They live across the East River from Arbery’s shooting location. Many residents were reluctant to openly talk with Reuters reporters who knocked on their doors.

One resident said that the world has painted us as racists, but he declined to identify himself. “Anything that I speak will be taken incorrectly, but it’s peaceful. We should stick with our guns.”

Rachael Bregman, Rabbi of the Temple Beth Tefilloh Synagogue in the area said Brunswick would be subject to more scrutiny once the trial begins and that they must meet the challenge.

We need to spread positivity to all people in Brunswick. “This community is trying to unite,” she stated.

This was proved by residents who showed up during bail hearings.

A Confederate flag-wearing man arrived at a demonstration looking like he was in trouble. One woman said some of the people around him that they were happy to tell him “We love you.”