(NewsNation Now) — Ahmaud Arbery’s mother said she had a hard time watching the way another high profile self-defense case was decided last week.
Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on five charges related to the shooting deaths of two men, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the injury to Gaige Grosskreutz, now 27, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Rittenhouse was chased during a night of protests after police shot Jacob Blake in 2020. He was armed with a rifle, and shot the three men in self-defense, the jury found.
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, told NewsNation the verdict gave her “very much anxiety.”
“Seeing that guy get acquitted of all charges was just unreal,” Cooper-Jones said.
Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael grabbed guns and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and recorded the video of Travis McMichael opening fire as Arbery threw punches and grabbed for his shotgun.
The McMichaels and Bryan argue it was self-defense, but prosecutors say Arbery did not pose a threat and he was entitled to self-defense in that scenario.
Jury deliberation begins Tuesday.
“I feel very confident that we’re going to get a guilty verdict,” Cooper-Jones told NewsNation. “How fast we’ll get it, I don’t know. But I think the state did a very good job putting in the evidence and we’ll finally get justice for Ahmaud.”