On the same day the defense rested in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, an attorney for one of the men standing trial in the death of Ahmaud Arbery took issue with “Black pastors” attending court proceedings. The video above shows scenes from both courtrooms Thursday. Arbery was Black, and the three men accused of murdering him are white. The accused men include father and son Greg and Travis McMichael as well as their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan.
“My understanding, while I was cross-examining investigator Lowrey yesterday, is that the right Rev. Al Sharpton managed to find his way into the back of the courtroom. I’m guessing he was somehow there at the invitation of the victim’s family in this case,” Kevin Gough, who represents Brown, said in court Thursday. “If their pastor is Al Sharpton right now, that’s fine. But then that’s it. We don’t want anymore Black pastors coming in here or other, Jesse Jackson, whoever was in here earlier this week, sitting with the victim’s family trying to influence the jury in this case.”
Sharpton had held a prayer vigil and news conference outside the Glynn County courthouse Wednesday afternoon to show support for Arbery’s family. Afterward, he sat in the back row of the courtroom gallery to listen to portions of the trial testimony. In a statement, Sharpton said Gough’s remarks showed “arrogant insensitivity.”
“I respect the defense attorney doing his job,” Sharpton said, “but this is beyond defending your client, it is insulting the family of the victim.”
Meanwhile, in Kenosha, Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorneys rested their case in his homicide trial Thursday. Their case covered 2.5 days of testimony, half of the five days the prosecution took. The highlight of the defense case came Wednesday when prosecutor Thomas Binger’s cross examination of Rittenhouse led to the defense team calling for a mistrial.
Attorneys in the case were expected to return to the courtroom Friday “to get the case ready for” closing arguments on Monday, according to Judge Bruce Schroeder. Prosecutors said they will ask Circuit Judge Schroeder to allow the jury to consider possible lesser charges on some of the counts. This could include the intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide charges.