Clergy Members Urge Community to Remain Peaceful During Trial Over Killing of Ahmaud Arbery

U.S.|‘We service a God who is not asleep’: Clergy members impulse unity for Ahmaud Arbery’s family.

• Nov. 5, 2021Updated 1:40 p.m. ET

A radical of clergy members gathered extracurricular the Glynn County Superior Court successful Brunswick, Ga., connected Friday morning, urging the assemblage to stay peaceful and agreed contempt their unhappiness that a astir all-white assemblage had been seated successful the proceedings of the achromatic men accused of sidesplitting Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man.

“We privation to admit that we perceive and that we spot your disappointment with immoderate of the discoveries successful the process of justness that person taken place,” said John Davis Perry II, a section minister. “Despite each of those disappointments, arsenic religion leaders we basal unneurotic declaring to not hide that we service a God who is not asleep.”

He added: “We privation to promote you to support the religion and to proceed to locomotion successful the tone of unity due to the fact that God has promised that helium volition beryllium with america done the process.”

Mr. Arbery’s aunt, Thea Brooks, said that having clergy members contiguous had brought a measurement of bid to the Arbery household and the Brunswick community.

Ms. Brooks said she anticipated that having to spot the video of Mr. Arbery’s killing, which occurred connected Feb. 23, 2020, would beryllium particularly hard for her family. Mr. Arbery’s mother, who is successful the courtroom, had not yet seen the video, she said.

But Ms. Brooks said she was acceptable for the proceedings to begin.

“It’s been astir 2 years that we’ve been here, we’ve been having to ticker the video, perceive the motions, spell done preliminary hearings, successful and retired of tribunal for motions and that takes a toll connected you,” she said. “Now that we’re here, we conscionable privation this to beryllium a creaseless situation, get it done, get it implicit with, get justness served truthful we tin determination connected and adjacent this section of our lives.”