REMEMBERING AHMAUD ARBERY

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On Feb. 23, Ahmaud Arbery, age 25, was out for a jog in the Satilla Shores neighborhood outside of Brunswick, Georgia, when he was chased down by 64-year-old Greg McMichael, his son, Travis, age 34, and an alleged accomplice who recorded it all on his phone.

The father and son (both white) shot Arbery (an African-American) multiple times, killing him. And they have only recently been charged with his murder, though in the beginning it didn’t seem it would happen.

According to documents supplied by Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill (whose territory covers six different counties in Georgia), when he recused himself from the case at Arbery’s mother’s request, he had drafted a potential legal defense of the McMichaels.

In sum, Barnhill summarized that 1) the father and son had “solid firsthand probable cause” as civilians to detain Arbery; 2) they apparently sought only to “stop and hold this criminal suspect until law enforcement arrived;” 3) Arbery’s “mental health records and prior convictions” explain his alleged aggression during the incident; 4) Either McMichael was (legally) allowed to use deadly force to protect himself;” and, 5) Arbery may have shot himself while fighting for the shotgun.

Worth noting is Georgia’s citizen arrest law, which states “A private person may arrest an offender if the offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge. If the offense is a felony and the offender is escaping or attempting to escape, a private person may arrest him upon reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion.”

The McMichaels have said they thought Arbery was possibly linked to a series of burglaries in the area, and was fleeing as if guilty.

The case itself is now on its fourth prosecutor. The first two recused themselves, one because of conflict of interest, the second at Arbery’s mother’s request.

All this has left the Arbery family in fear of any proper prosecution of the shooters (in their view). For two months, outside of Brunswick the shooting received little to no attention. As the COVID-19 pandemic reared its head they began to worry if there would even be a trial, at all. Even the virus-related restrictions on public gatherings made it difficult to rally and protest together.

It seemed as if justice was a far, unheard cry, when on a Tuesday evening, May 5, a graphic video recording of the fatal encounter began making its way through the internet and what had started off as a small, ignored shouting of voices began to grow quickly.

The one thing those voices were shouting for was justice – and the hashtag #IRunWithMaud was shared thousands of times across social media. Celebrities even began bringing light to the case. Supporters documented their own 2.23-mile runs to commemorate the date of his killing. A petition on Change.org seeking #JusticeforAhmaud resulted in nearly a million signatures (as of May 21).

It was later found out that the Brunswick radio station WGIG that had first posted the video obtained it from a local criminal defense lawyer, Alan Tucker, who said he had leaked it in order to “dispel rumors” that he said fueled tension within the community. He noted the video showed that the incident “wasn’t two men with a Confederate flag in the back of a truck going down the road and shooting a jogger in the back.”

It was not until May 7 when the McMichaels were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault.

Ahmaud would have turned 26 on May 8.

[Ed. note: In breaking news on May 21, the man who recorded the video, 50-year-old William Bryan Jr., was arrested on felony murder and criminal false imprisonment charges.]