Grainy video from Bryan’s cellphone shows Arbery running past the McMichaels and their parked truck on Feb. 23, 2020 in Satilla Shores, about two miles from Arbery’s home. Coming around the vehicle, Arbery moves toward Travis McMichael — who has a shotgun — and struggles with him. Then shots ring out. Glynn County police arrived within minutes to find Arbery lying in the middle of the road, still breathing and faintly moving. Standing by were the McMichaels, who told officers they set out to apprehend Arbery, thinking he was responsible for neighborhood break-ins. Not long before the shooting, security footage shows, Arbery had walked into a home under construction. Arbery’s family said he was simply out doing something he loved: jogging. A lawyer for the owner of the vacant house has suggested Arbery may have been drinking from the water sources at 220 Satilla Drive. Video shows him entering the property a few times in the months leading up to the shooting. Lawyers for the defendants have argued that Arbery was instead “canvassing” the place for valuables. Police said they found no stolen items on his body. Investigators initially told Arbery’s family that he was slain during a possible burglary, according to friends and relatives. Police have mostly declined to comment on the case while it works through the courts. Speaking to law enforcement the day of the shooting, Travis McMichael said he never sought to kill Arbery: “Last thing I ever wanted to do in my life,” he said. Bryan, who filmed from a distance, said he joined the chase and tried to block Arbery with his vehicle. “I made a few moves at him, you know,” he told police at the scene. “And he didn’t stop.” “Should we have been chasing him?” Bryan added. “I don’t know.”

How did authorities respond to the killing?

A prosecutor initially told police that Bryan’s cellphone video bolstered the suspects’ case. The prosecutor for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, Jackie Johnson, recused herself — the elder McMichael, a former Glynn County police officer, had recently retired from her office. But a grand jury this fall indicted Johnson on allegations she helped protect the suspects, including by improperly telling police not to arrest Travis McMichael. Before writing to the Georgia Attorney General for a replacement, Johnson brought in another prosecutor to advise police: Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill. Within a day of Arbery’s death, Barnhill had reviewed the evidence, met with law enforcement and told them he saw no reason for arrests. Barnhill later recused himself under pressure from Arbery’s mother, who argued he had a conflict of interest as well because his son worked in Johnson’s office. But in a letter notifying police, Barnhill said the McMichaels and Bryan seemed to have solid “probable cause” for a citizen’s arrest and that Arbery had “attacked” Travis McMichael and seemingly grabbed his gun during their skirmish. Outrage over Arbery’s case led Georgia to overhaul its citizen’s arrest law, but that does not affect the court case. Johnson has denied any wrongdoing, and a former staffer previously told The Post that her office spoke with police insistent on getting guidance but did not tell them what to do. Barnhill has declined to comment, saying does not want to interfere with the ongoing case. Days after video of the shooting became public in May of 2020, the McMichaels were arrested amid an outcry. President Biden and others likened the incident to lynching. The case became a national story just weeks before viral video captured a White Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man whose death ignited massive protests and soul-searching about racism in America. Many in the Arbery’s community and beyond see the trial in Arbery’s death as a similar proxy for much bigger issues of race and justice. Demonstrators from around the country have gathered in Brunswick for the proceedings. “What’s on trial is the importance of African American life in this country,” one local Black pastor, Darren West, told The Post.

How will jury selection work?

A thousand people have been summoned for jury duty — roughly one out of every 85 people in Glynn County. That’s far more than the local Superior Court usually summons for criminal trial, officials say, and a reflection of how tough it may be to seat a jury for such a high-profile case, especially in the community where it unfolded. Among those summoned, 600 were told to report to court Monday. Another 400 have been asked to come in Oct. 25 if needed. Officials note that many of those called may not show. “How many will we be able to find … who will say to us, under oath and believably, credibly, ‘Yeah, I’m open to the facts’?” said Frank Hogue, a lawyer for Greg McMichael. He said he will not be surprised if authorities are forced to “pull the plug” and move the whole trial elsewhere in Georgia. A written questionnaire asks potential jurors basic questions about their knowledge of the case. In-person, lawyers and the judge can ask further questions in a process called “voir dire.” Attorneys have unlimited opportunity to ask that a juror be cut “for cause,” or because they do not believe the person will consider the case impartially. The judge decides whether each request should be granted. Lawyers also have limited chances to ask for a juror’s dismissal without giving a reason. But other attorneys can challenge those requests if they believe they were made to exclude people from the jury based on their sex or race.

What will jurors hear at the trial?

The prosecution has sought to show that the McMichaels were the aggressors and had racist motives for pursuing Arbery. At a hearing summer of last year, a member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation argued that it was Arbery, not Travis McMichael, who was fighting for his life. The investigator, Richard Dial, noted that the suspects did not call 911 before driving after Arbery. “I believe Mr. Arbery was being pursued, and he ran until he couldn’t run anymore,” he said. “And it was: turn his back to a man with a shotgun, or fight with his bare hands against a man with a shotgun, and he chose to fight.” Bryan told investigators that Travis McMichael used the n-word and an expletive after shooting Arbery, an allegation that McMichael’s attorneys deny. At a bond hearing , prosecutors also pointed to defendants’ social media posts and texts as evidence that they are racist, but it is not clear if those will come into play in the murder trial. Defense lawyers have argued that race played no role and that their clients had reasonable suspicions after break-ins. They say the accused chased Arbery after he left the home under construction and a neighbor waved in his direction. Attorneys also contend the younger McMichael believed Arbery was trying to kill or seriously injure him. A lawyer for Bryan said last year that his client “has never been more than a witness to the shooting,” while investigators argued his “underlying felony helped cause the death.” He was charged with both murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Who will testify remains to be seen. The Cobb County District Attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, did not respond to an inquiry about its witness plans. Lawyers for the defendants have not said if their clients will take the stand; Robert Rubin, an attorney for Travis McMichael, said their plans depend on what the prosecution does. Attorneys are also still battling over what the jury will be allowed to see and hear. Lawyers for the defense recently asked Judge Timothy Walmsley to bar a photo of Travis McMichael’s license plate, which features an old Georgia flag with the Confederate battle emblem. They argued it would be irrelevant and “prejudicial.” The judge has yet to rule on that issue but has rejected defense requests to introduce evidence on Arbery’s mental health and criminal history.

How can people watch?

CourtTV is live-streaming the trial from the courthouse in Brunswick, which has limited space for observers due to covid-19 restrictions. Many media outlets have also filed to film the proceedings.

What happens after the trial?

The state murder trial will not be the end of advocates’ and prosecutors’ quest for consequences in Arbery’s death. All three defendants also have pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges. A trial is set for February 2022 . An indictment accuses the men of attempted kidnapping and of using “force and threats of force to intimidate and interfere with Arbery’s right to use a public street because of his race.” Johnson, the first prosecutor involved in Arbery’s case, has yet to be tried on charges she violated her oath of office and obstructed police. She was voted out of office last year amid new scrutiny of her case record. Activists and Arbery’s family have also called for Barnhill to be punished over his handling of the case. Announcing the indictment against Johnson, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said that “our file is not closed, and we will continue to investigate in order to pursue justice.” Margaret Coker contributed to this report. Read more: Big business pledged billions after George Floyd’s death. Where did the money go? Mississippi’s history of lynchings haunts grieving mother ‘This was supposed to go away’: The battle to shape how the world viewed Ahmaud Arbery’s killing

The murder trial for Ahmaud Arbery’s killing is starting. Here’s what you need to know.

By Hannah Knowles

Updated October 19, 2021 at 12:42 p.m. EDT|Published October 18, 2021 at 6:44 p.m. EDT

Carla Arbery hugs her daughter Aaliyah while singing during a call to service rally on the day before jury selection for the trial in the shooting death of her nephew Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, U.S., October 17, 2021. REUTERS/Octavio Jones (Octavio Jones/Reuters)

Ahmaud Arbery’s killing in February 2020 initially drew little attention. A district attorney quickly concluded that three White men committed no crime when they chased and shot the 25-year-old Black man on a suburban street of coastal Georgia.

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Then, after more than two months without arrests, a leaked video of the fatal confrontation went viral, prompting comparisons to a lynching. Soon, Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were charged with murder.

Jury selection in the men’s trial started Monday and could last weeks, as lawyers and the judge seek impartial arbiters for a nationally watched case that became a rallying cry in a broader racial justice movement. The prosecution has cast the defendants as vigilantes who racially profiled a jogger, while the accused say they attempted a legitimate citizen’s arrest and then acted in self-defense.

Here is what you need to know about the case.

Ahmaud Arbery’s killing changed his Georgia community. Now three men will stand trial for murder.