Rev. Jackson joins family of Ahmaud Arbery in court against defense attorney's wishes
ATLANTA, Ga. - Reverend Jesse Jackson joined the family of Ahmaud Arbery in the courtroom on Monday despite protest from the defense lawyer.
Last week, the defense lawyer told the judge he did not want any more Black pastors in the courtroom and reverend Jackson was not having any of that.
The defense lawyer claimed having pastors like Al Sharpton and Reverend Jackson would influence and distract the jury.
The judge said last week that he did not think that would be the case.
Despite all that, the lawyer tried again to have Reverend Jackson removed.
"I certainly don’t mean to suggest that Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson or any other pastor belong to a mob, but at the same time we are talking about organized behavior by whoever outside the courthouse leading up to this case," he said.
"You need to understand, everybody, that your words in this courtroom have an impact on a lot of what's going on. So my measured response at this point is to balance all of that out and try to move forward with the trial. I'm not granting a mistrial at this point," the judge said.
Once again, the judge said he would not forbid any member of the public from the courtroom unless there was some kind of disruption.
The public is allowed in the courtroom, but numbers have been limited due to COVID-19.