Marcus Arbery Sr., the father of Ahmaud Arbery, spoke out about his son's death in an interview with CNN on Tuesday and described the killing as a "lynching."

"It's still emotional for my family because it's a raw trauma," the grieving father told CNN. "You know, to watch my son get lynched like that by three white men, ran him down and lynched him like that. It's really raw."

As Blavity previously reported, a cellphone video showed the father-son duo Travis and Gregory McMichael chasing Ahmaud in Feb. 2020 after suspecting him of stealing from a construction site. The defendants said Travis was acting in self-defense when he fired his gun as Ahmaud tried to wrestle for the weapon. Prosecutors, however, said the white men were motivated by prejudice when they chased Ahmaud.

The McMichael's neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., is also defending himself after being accused of blocking Ahmaud as the father and son used their truck to chase the young man while he was running.

While Ahmaud's family continues to grieve, the court is in the midst of selecting jurors. The white men will soon stand on trial, facing multiple charges for the murder of the 25-year-old Black man.

"I'm just praying to God we get the right jury," Marcus said.

Benjamin Crump, Marcus' attorney, said the video is compelling evidence.

"Regardless of how they want to try to reference it, you know that race was a motivating factor," Crump said.

Marcus said his son's case proves that the country hasn't made much progress in terms of race relations.

"It's the same thing still going on," he said. "The cycle keep repeating because they don't want to bring no change. That's why we got to keep fighting hard to try and bring this change."

The devastated father hopes to see the three men end up in prison for life "so that "Black people can heal."

"Black people are not going to heal when this stuff keeps going on," he said.

Marcus-Arbery

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