The jury in the murder trial over the death of Ahmaud Arbery made headlines from the start, with 11 white jurors and 1 Black juror. "Nearly All-White Jury in Arbery Killing Draws Scrutiny," read a November 4 headline from The New York Times. In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, contributor Paul Butler even claimed that "The nearly all-White jury in the Ahmaud Arbery trial is itself an injustice." On Wednesday, however, that jury found all three defendants guilty of murder, something defense attorney Ted Williams made note of while he was on Fox News shortly after the verdict was handed down.
"We are such a divided country. We are divided along racial lines. What we observed here in this verdict and what could be taken away from this verdict is that justice prevailed and that when we see things in a white and black manner, then everything is not always the way we see it." Williams said.
"Here we had 11 of the jurors who were white. We had one Black on the jury. The jury came to a decision, a consensus. That in and of itself can be considered justice," he continued to note, addressing the makeup of the jury.
Williams had also shared he "was moved 'All lives matter,' something Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery, said in his remarks outside the courthouse once the verdict was handed down.
AHMAUD ARBERY’S FATHER: "All lives matter, not just blacks. We don't wanna see nobody go through this...It's all our problem. So hey, let's keep fighting, let's keep doing it, & making this place a better place for all human beings -- all human beings. Everybody. Love everybody." pic.twitter.com/E6CNUWv8Pp
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 24, 2021
As of early Thursday morning it does not appear that Butler, who authored the above-mentioned opinion piece in the Washington Post, has commented on the "guilty" verdict.
