The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery: Trying to Outrun a Failing Justice System
Today would have been Ahmaud Arbery’s 26 birthday, but unfortunately he nor his family will be able to celebrate due to his murder, poorly disguised as a citizens arrest, on February 23.
According to his sister Jasmine Arbery, he had dreams of becoming an electrician. Today people will be participating in a movement started by the hashtag, #IRunWithMaud. It’s in honor of his life as well as his mother. People will be walking, jogging, and running throughout the whole weekend in 2.23 mile increments to represent the date of his death.
Following the recent release of the graphic and disturbing video of Arbery’s killing, media outlets, celebrities, advocates for justice, as well as everyday people, were outraged, with some referring to his murder as, “the modern day lynching.” Thankfully the public outcry and activism made an impact because on Thursday night the Georgia Bureau of Investigation helped in the arrests of the self-proclaimed vigalante father and son, George and Travis McMichael, for the murder of Arbery.
However, the question remains...what took so long?
The case had already been passed by two prosecutors because they had some connection to the McMichaels, as he is a former investigator with the local district attorney and former district police officer. One of the first two prosecutors was District Attorney George E. Barnhill, who wrote a letter to the Glynn County police department to give his opinion on the case, but only using assumptions from the poorly filmed video, ultimately defended the McMichaels actions. The letter also revealed that Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, had requested he and his office be taken off the case due to his relationship with Gregory McMichael.
Now the case is on its third prosecutor, Tom Durden. He plans to bring the case to a grand jury to decide if there will be criminal charges. However, courts are closed due to coronavirus so it is estimated that a grand jury wouldn’t be able to meet until mid-June. So after all of the passing around of the case from biased prosecutor to the next, the mother of Arbery having to wait to bury her son, the hurt and anger pouring out of people all across the nation, and the legal action through those in power who care, the McMichaels have finally been arrested.
"According to that law, you actually have to be observing the crime or be in the immediate knowledge of the crime," the Arbery family’s attorney S. Lee Merritt said to CNN in response to the McMichaels not being arrested. This feels all too familiar, as this hopefully isn’t a repeat of the Trayvon Martin case from 2012.
George Zimmerman, who sat on the high horse of his neighborhood watch committee, had confronted the unarmed Martin and accused him of being a thief, proceeded to follow him, and ultimately shot him dead. Zimmerman was acquitted of Trayvon Martin’s murder due to the controversial “stand your ground” law in Florida. This law exists in Georgia as well.
Many other high profile cases of African Americans dying in tragic and racially driven instances have followed. There was Eric Garner in New York City, who died from excessive force used by a police officer. Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy, was shot and killed by police officers while playing at a city park. Botham Jean was shot and killed in his own apartment because an off duty cop mistook it for hers and thought he had broken in. Unfortunately, these are just a few examples of the many to mention.
Although some of these cases were brought to court and some of the killers were punished in some way, no amount of justice will ever bring them back and nothing will ever prevent others like them from being targeted. One thing that remains the same throughout all of these cases and through all of these years is that vigilantes and police officers have become the judge, jury, and executioner in situations where they are so blinded by their racist viewpoints that innocent black people are losing their lives.
Arbery was jogging through the Satilla Shores neighborhood that is just outside of Brunswick, Georgia, when he was cut off by Gregory and Travis McMichael in their white pick-up truck, armed with a shotgun and a .357 Magnum revolver.
The McMichaels suspected Arbery of committing break-ins throughout the neighborhood. In the public Glynn County police report, Gregory claims he and his son grabbed their weapons because they had seen Arbery stick his hands down his pants the other night, leading them to believe he may have been carrying a weapon. The McMichaels were going based off of Arbery simply looking like the person who committed the break-ins which stems from the racist ideology that all black men look the same.
The McMichaels also claim in the report that when they attempted to just try to talk with Arbery that he “began to violently attack Travis and the two men then started fighting over the shotgun, at which point Travis fired a shot and then a second later there was a second shot.” McMichael said Arbery “fell face down on the pavement with his hand under his body at which point he rolled the man [Arbery] over to see if the male had a weapon.” However, in the video taken by Travis’ neighbor Bryan William who was following Arbery to where the McMichaels were waiting for him, three gunshots are heard as opposed to the two that the McMichaels claimed in the police report and three gunshot wounds are recorded in Arbery’s autopsy.
This raises concern that if the McMichaels did not provide accurate information to the police or if the police did not make an accurate report, how can people have trust in this system? Short answer: they can’t. This puts people of color who may find themselves in similar situations, at the mercy of what narrative their attacker creates as well as others in power.
It is unknown if the McMichaels will be properly charged guilty and put away for the killing of Arbery. As we watch this case unfold, will justice be swift and fair for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery? If not, the saying that “justice is blind” will no longer have meaning.
Update: on Monday, May 11, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr appointed a fourth district attorney to lead the prosecution regarding the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. This was per the request of Attorney Lee Merritt, who represents Ahmaud Arbery’s family. Cobb County Judicial Circuit District Attorney Joyette Holmes will now take over the case.
