As the Trial in Ahmaud Arbery’s Killing Nears, a Community Is on Edge

In the months since Mr. Arbery was shot to death, Brunswick, Ga., has been focused on issues of racial inequality.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — As jury selection in the trial of the three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery began last week, a group of clergy gathered outside the Glynn County courthouse. They handed out rainbow stickers that read: “Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly … together.” They prayed for Mr. Arbery’s family, for the families of the defendants and for their community.

“People are determined to stay together while feeling pulled apart,” said Rachael Bregman, the rabbi of Temple Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick. “We could completely fall apart during this trial and after, but we will not.”

Civic leaders in Brunswick, a city of 16,000 between Savannah and Jacksonville on Georgia’s southern coast, are projecting optimism, but residents are uneasy as the trial approaches. Mr. Arbery, the 25-year-old man who was chased through a Brunswick suburb and then shot at close range, was Black; his accused killers are white. The case, which drew nationwide protests after a graphic video of last year’s slaying was released, has drawn attention to racial division in a community that has long cherished its image as a “model Southern city.”