Lawyer for Man Accused of Killing Ahmaud Arbery Draws Scrutiny

ATLANTA — When Kevin Gough, a lawyer for 1 of the 3 men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, said that the beingness of the Rev. Al Sharpton successful the courtroom this week had been “intimidating” to jurors — and past added, “We don’t privation immoderate much Black pastors coming successful here” — Mr. Sharpton, similar galore others, seemed arsenic offended and astonished.

“I’ve been done a batch of trials implicit the decades,” Mr. Sharpton, the 67-year-old civilian rights seasoned and TV personality, said successful an interrogation with TMZ. “I’ve ne'er had a lawyer inquire that I not beryllium capable to travel to court.”

Mr. Gough’s telephone connected Thursday for Judge Timothy R. Walmsley to prohibition what Mr. Gough called “high-profile members of the African American community” from the Brunswick, Ga., courtroom has been wide condemned.

His statements besides look to acceptable a signifier of provocation from a lawyer who, some during this proceedings and agelong before, seems to thrive connected it.

Mr. Gough represents the suspect William Bryan, who goes by Roddie and is facing a imaginable beingness condemnation for his relation successful trying to detain Mr. Arbery arsenic helium ran done the Satilla Shores vicinity adjacent Brunswick successful February 2020.

Outrage implicit Mr. Gough’s comments astir Mr. Sharpton and different Black pastors dispersed quickly. “It says thing that has been agelong portion of the racist mind-set, that Blackness equals intimidation,” said the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, different civilian rights person who visited the courthouse this week.

On Friday morning, Mr. Gough issued an apology successful tribunal to “anyone who mightiness person inadvertently been offended.” In a little telephone interrogation connected Friday evening, helium added: “I person thing against Al Sharpton. But I don’t correspond Al Sharpton. Not today, anyway. In this trial, I correspond Roddie Bryan, and my work is to guarantee that Mr. Bryan receives a just trial.”

Mr. Gough, 59, is simply a well-known beingness successful the tiny ineligible assemblage of Brunswick, colonisation 16,000, successful opposition with the different 2 defendants’ lawyers, who hail from the larger metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Macon.

It is Mr. Gough’s demeanor that astir intimately resembles that of an aw-shucks state lawyer quality from the movies, with a dependable that honks and drawls and tends to ladle connected the folksiness. On Thursday, arsenic helium called for — and past appeared to backpedal connected — a prohibition connected Black preachers successful the courtroom, Mr. Gough wondered aloud what it would beryllium similar “if a clump of folks came successful present dressed similar Colonel Sanders with achromatic masks sitting successful the back.”

But Mr. Gough’s presumption is, similar truthful overmuch astir him, confounding, and sometimes contradictory. Though helium attended instrumentality schoolhouse astatine the University of Georgia, Mr. Gough grew up connected Long Island. He spent a fig of years heading up the Republican Party successful Glynn County, Ga., and said helium served for 2 years arsenic ineligible manager of a radical called the Poor and Minority Justice Association. From 1989 to 1993, helium served arsenic a authoritative successful the section territory attorney’s office. For 4 years starting successful 2012, helium represented the poorest defendants successful his assemblage arsenic the Brunswick Judicial Circuit nationalist defender.

He was fired from the nationalist defender occupation for a fig of reasons. Among them was the allegation that helium fomented a civilization of “fear and intimidation” successful the office, according to statements during his appeals proceeding from Bryan P. Tyson, who was past the enforcement manager of the authorities nationalist defender council.

Mr. Tyson, successful a missive firing Mr. Gough, noted that a pistillate worker successful Mr. Gough’s bureau had accused him of retaliation aft she had filed a intersexual harassment ailment against different employee. The authorities nationalist defender “credited her assertion of retaliation,” Mr. Tyson wrote, and “took remedial action.”

Mr. Tyson besides chided Mr. Gough for engaging successful a “media campaign” that took purpose astatine the Brunswick-area territory lawyer astatine the time, Jackie Johnson. Mr. Gough had publically accused Ms. Johnson of failing to record cases successful a timely manner, a determination that helium said wasted payer wealth and impeded indigent clients’ close to a speedy trial.

Mr. Tyson said successful his missive that Mr. Gough had besides accused the territory lawyer of being excessively cozy with the section police, and said that Mr. Gough had complained that the Superior Court was being tally “as a debtors’ prison,” issuing steep restitution and probation fees to the poor.

On Friday, Mr. Gough declined to remark connected the firing. But astatine the time, his dismissal was fervently opposed by the section N.A.A.C.P. chapter.

Understand the Killing of Ahmaud Arbery

“Take the idiosyncratic who is astir susceptible of defending the poor, the needy and the downtrodden and region him from the office, what volition they regenerate it with? With idiosyncratic who volition spell astir to get along,” the Rev. Dr. Leonard Small, an African American civilian rights activist, said astatine that time successful his defence of Mr. Gough, according to a TV quality report.

Mr. Gough threatened to spell connected a hunger onslaught if a fig of demands by the N.A.A.C.P. pertaining to the section justness strategy were not met.

Last year, Ms. Johnson was voted retired of bureau amid disapproval of her relation successful the Arbery case, successful which his 3 pursuers walked escaped for weeks aft the killing. This year, a expansive assemblage indicted Ms. Johnson connected the charges of obstruction of the constabulary and violating her nationalist oath, connected grounds that she showed “favor and affection” to 1 of the defendants successful the case, Gregory McMichael, who had formerly worked successful her bureau arsenic an investigator.

Long earlier the proceedings astir Mr. Arbery’s decease started, Mr. Gough raised eyebrows by appearing connected CNN with his client, who had not yet been arrested, and intervening erstwhile the anchor, Chris Cuomo, tried to inquire Mr. Bryan questions astir the case.

“My lawsuit is simply a mechanic with a precocious schoolhouse education, and if you’ve ever been to the precocious schools astir here, that’s not needfully saying much, OK?” Mr. Gough said.

Three days earlier Mr. Bryan’s arrest, Mr. Gough released a connection saying that his client, who had recorded the sidesplitting of Mr. Arbery connected his phone, was simply a witnesser to the February 2020 shooting.

Mr. Gough adjacent pleaded with 2 high-profile lawyers moving with Mr. Arbery’s family, Ben Crump and S. Lee Merritt, to halt calling for Mr. Bryan to beryllium charged, arguing that they had made Mr. Bryan a “sitting duck” for retaliatory attacks.

“Killing disconnected the prima witnesser for the prosecution volition not assistance bring Ahmaud’s killers to justice,” helium said.