Closing arguments were held on Nov. 22, 2021, in the trial of father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., who are accused of chasing and killing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery as he ran through a Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020.
On Monday, Laura Hogue, one of Gregory McMichael’s lawyers, added a few comments in her closing that have been deemed racist by many legal experts and others who perceived them as another shot at the late Arbery.
“Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts, no socks, to cover his long dirty toenails,” Hogue said.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, spoke with CNN after the comments on Monday.
“She described Ahmaud as his long legs and his dirty long toenails. That was just beyond rude. Regardless of what kind of toenails he had, what size legs he had, that was still my son. And my son actually was running for his life in that description. I thought that was just, flat out just rude,” the grieving mother said.
Beyoncé’s mother Tina Lawson took offense to the comments as well and voiced her thought on Instagram.
“No dumb, evil, racist cockroach. The defendants turned Mr. Arbery into the victim when they murdered him in cold Blood. This insulting, disrespectful, evil manipulative, racist comment about someone’s loved one who is dead, that she made should get her thrown off this case and charged with reckless behavior. What did the judge do about this disgusting comment? Since when are you breaking the law because you wear khaki shorts and no socks,” Lawson wrote.
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