Judge in Arbery death federal trial to seat the jury Monday

By Russ Bynum

The Associated Press

SAVANNAH, GA. » The federal judge presiding over the hate crimes trial of three White men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery said she will seat a jury Monday after a week spent asking potential jurors what they already know about the Black man’s death as well as their views on racism in America.

U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood said Friday she’s ready to start the trial with 64 people deemed qualified to serve as impartial jurors. That pool will be narrowed to a main jury of 12 plus four alternates Monday, when the judge also expects attorneys to make opening statements.

It will be the second time the port city of Brunswick, on the Georgia coast south of Savannah, has held a trial in Arbery’s killing since November, when the same three defendants were convicted of murder in a Georgia state court.

Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and chased 25-year-old Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael blasting Arbery with a shotgun. No arrests were made in the case until the video leaked online two months later.

A judge last month sentenced the McMichaels and Bryan to life in prison for their murder convictions. But they still face a federal trial on hate crime charges, which allege that they violated Arbery’s civil rights and targeted him because he was Black.

All three men have pleaded not guilty in the federal case. The judge said she expects the hate crimes trial to last between seven and 12 days.

The judge and attorneys worked Monday through Friday to interview more than 160 potential jurors pulled from 43 counties across southern and eastern Georgia. Nearly twothirds of them were dismissed for having strong opinions about the case after watching portions of the state murder trial or news reports about it.

Some of the 64 jury pool members returning to the courthouse Monday said they knew little about the case. They include a man, identified in court only as juror No. 421, who on Friday told the judge: “The only thing I really know is that it’s a high-profile case and there might be a video related to it.” all this was about — an honest mistake,” Axelrod said.

Jurors deliberated about two hours at the end of the day without reaching a verdict. They are to resume Monday morning.

The jury must decide whether the Times acted with “actual malice” against a public figure, meaning a Times editorial page editor knew what he wrote was false, or with “reckless disregard” for the truth when he inserted the disputed wording into the piece. If the nine jurors find there was libel, they can set monetary damages.

Palin sued the Times for unspecified damages in 2017, about a decade after she burst onto the national stage as the Republican vice-presidential nominee. She alleged the newspaper had damaged her career as a political commentator and consultant with the editorial about gun control published after U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, was wounded when a man with a history of anti-GOP activity opened fire on a Congressional baseball team practice in Washington.

In the editorial, the Times wrote that before the 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that severely wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabby Gi ords and killed six others, Palin’s political action committee had contributed to an atmosphere of violence by circulating a map of electoral districts that put Gi ords and 19 other Democrats under stylized crosshairs.

In a correction two days after the editorial was published, the Times said the editorial had “incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting” and that it had “incorrectly described” the map.

ALABAMA School system faulted for inadequate response to a Nazi salute incident

By Jay Reeves The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. » An Alabama school system’s “disconcerting” response to complaints from a Jewish student that a teacher had classmates perform a Nazi salute shows a lack of commitment to diversity, an organization that promotes civil and human rights said Friday.

While Mountain Brooks Schools issued a statement saying it was “deeply apologetic for the pain” caused by a lesson that “lacked sensitivity,” the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute questioned actions by the system, which previously ditched a diversity program produced by an organization that combats anti-

Semitism.

“It is in this light that we find a more recent incident involving the Nazi salute displayed by students in a Mountain Brook classroom particularly disconcerting, as it shows a conspicuous lack of preparation on the part of administrators to discuss, teach and lead in this area,” the city-owned educational institute said in a statement.

A spokesman for the school system, located in a nearly all-White, wealthy suburb of Birmingham, did not immediately return an email message.

In a story first reported by the Birmingham-based Southern Jewish Life, a Jewish student said he was shocked last month when a history teacher at Moun- tain Brook High School had classmates stand and give a sti -armed Nazi salute during a lesson on the way symbols change.

The student, Ephraim Tytell, said school o cials reprimanded him and told him to apologize to the teacher after he shared a video and photos of the incident on social media. The student said he refused.

The lesson was meant to show how symbols change by demonstrating that something very similar to what’s now widely known as a Nazi salute was used before World War II to salute the U.S. flag. Called the “Bellamy Salute,” it was ditched in 1942 for the right-handover-the-heart gesture following the United States’ entry into the war.