Ahmaud Arbery’s Mother Blasts Defense Attorney for Attacking His ‘Long, Dirty Toenails’: ‘Very Disrespectful’

Ken MeyerNov 23rd, 2021, 9:47 am
 

As the trial for the death of Ahmaud Arbery draws to the close, one of the defense lawyers for his alleged killers is getting torn to shreds for a comment she made about Arbery in her closing arguments.

Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and Roddie Bryan stand accused of murder and aggravated assault in connection with Arbery’s death in 2020. Bryan followed the McMichaels in their pickup truck last year as they pursued Arbery — who they suspected was a burglar — which led to Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery.

As the McMichaels have claimed a right to self-defense, their legal strategy has also been rooted in attempts to cast Arbery in a negative light from the events leading up to his death. Gregory McMichael’s defense attorney Laura Hogue, in her closing arguments Monday, went so far as to suggest Arbery was to blame for his own death.

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 with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails.

The remarks drew audible shock within the courtroom, and Wanda Cooper-Jones — Arbery’s mother, who was in attendance — quickly left the courtroom. She later appeared before reporters and said Hogue’s comments were “flat-out just rude.”

“That was just beyond rude,” Cooper-Jones said. “Regardless of what kind of toenails he had, what size legs he had, that was still my son. And my son was actually running for his life.”

Later in the day, Cooper-Jones spoke to CNN’s John Berman, and she continued her condemnation of Hogue’s “very disrespectful” comments about her dead son.

“To talk about his long, dirty toenails and to totally neglect that my son had a huge hole in his chest where he was shot with that shotgun,” she said. “[Hogue] chose not to recognize that gunshot wound.”

Hogue’s comments were condemned by many following the trial:

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