WHITES ONLY?: Defense attorney in Arbery trial says he does not want Black pastors attending

Sharpton, pastors hold prayer vigil and join Arbery family in court on Wednesday

IN BROAD CONTEXT: The trial of Ahmaud Arbery is hanging in the shadows of the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. The latter has gotten coverage on network television while the former is being streamed on Youtube and mainly getting local media coverage. Both cases are high profile and were in the national spotlight when the stories first broke in the news. But, it was on Thruday that major networks and other media online paused to cover the cotrovery that erupted on the last day of the trial whehn a dfense attorney suggest prominent Civil Rights leader be banned from the trial proceedings.

IN SUMMARY: A defense attorney blatantly stated he does not want Black pastors present in the court proceedings during the trial of Ahmaud Arbery, a black jogger that was gunned down by a frmer policeman and his son while a freidn videotaped the deadly encounter.

This is what transpired to picque the media's interest. . .

Representitng the National Action Network, on Wednesday Rev. Al Sharpton, accompanied by attorney Bejamin Crump and other pastors arrived in Brunswick, GA to do a prayer vigil. The defense attorney for William Roddie Bryant, the man on trila who shot video of Arbery's execution, objected to the judge after noticing Sharpton was sitting in the courtroom.

Gough claimed Sharpton's presence would be "intimidating. He told the judge, “We don’t want any more Black pastors in here.”

He said his concern was about bringing people into the trial who have no ties other than political interests and someone of Sharpton's stature "initmidating" jurors.

Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery welcome the pastors presence. She expressed to Anderson Cooper on CNN that Sharpton was tkere to console the family. It was "surprising to know that he frowned u pastors being there to keep the family encouraged." She added that she considered the attoney's attitide to be "very rude."

Arbery family attorney Merritt said that the Defense is "trying to use old racial discrimination tactics that have denied many families justice."

Gough is the same attorney who complained of the jurry make up not including enough "Bubbas" referring to the sterotypical white man for a small usually SOuthern area.

Sharpton told TMZ he will be back.