New video in Ahmaud Arbery case offers a view of what happened moments before the deadly shooting

It shows a man who appears to be Arbery entering and walking around a house being built. The men who killed Arbery told police they were concerned about break-ins.

My initial take was that the McMasters had no valid legal basis on which to stop Arbery. On further thought, I am not so sure that is true, and it may be that the McMasters had a valid or at least colorable claim of legal authority for their actions.

Vigilantism is illegal, even in Georgia, the law does not give citizens the right to hunt down people they thought were criminals and shoot them because their arrest went wrong.

For example, the elder McMaster was a former cop and former investigator for the local District Attorney. Even in retirement, he may have had some sort of colorable law enforcement authority. Also, either or both of the McMasters might have been trained and credential as reserve deputies or members of the local sheriff’s posse.

So what, doesn’t matter if he was former law enforcement, when he turns in his papers and collects his pension, he is no longer a cop. That is why he was “RETIRED” stamped on his former ID, to remind him, he is no longer on the force.

As for trying to call their little shit show a police action, any cop that attempted that type of take down would lost their badge that evening and would be facing murder charges, excessive force charges. Sorry, cops don’t bring out the shot gun for a trespassing charge that they did not even witness. And yes, shot guns are used by police, but usually when the suspect is an escaped convict, mass shooter, cop killer, extremely dangerous. Not because he might have trespassed.

There may also be some obscure aspects of South Carolina law and yet unknown facts that suggest a rationale on which to stop and question Arbery. Due to the South’s history as a predominantly rural and unsettled region, state and local law and practice tend to accommodate self-defense, self-help, and even some forms of vigilantism. Since the McMasters had a handgun stolen from a vehicle parked at their home, they were crime victims and may have stopped Arbery to ask if he had taken the gun.

No, they have no right to question anyone under the duress of a shot gun, sorry, the law doesn’t allow this, even in Georgia. Georgia has a law against it though, it is called aggravated assault.

Moreover, although the McMasters were armed, there is a right to openly long guns in South Carolina. Stopping Arbery while openly armed with a shotgun was provocative, but, without more, it did not in itself justify violence by Arbery. And, beyond question, Arbery was the aggressor and initiated physical violence, not the McMasters.

Guns are for self defense, if you use your gun to commit a crime, your right to that gun is no longer valid. If you use that gun when you commit a crime, you can no longer claim self defense and you should and will be convicted of murder.

Sorry, you can’t mug someone and shoot them and claim self defense because your victim tried to defend themselves against your attack.

If that point is ignored, then all sorts of things can be used to justify attacking and killing another person. Until Arbery went after the McMasters, no one had suffered any physical injury. He was the aggressor, not the McMasters.

This is untrue, A we don’t know who really attacked first, a lot is missing in that video, it only shows part of what happened, and it does not show what happened in front of the truck.

B) Fake cop ‘attacked’ Arbery first with having the shot gun in hand while trying to “arrest” Arbery for a crime that he did not even witness. They admitted to this. We have no idea what was said.

c) You can not under law hold someone at “gun point” even in Georgia, a lady did this and she got arrested when she shot her victim, she will be convicted of murder.

McMichaels broke the law, murdered their victim and will server hopefully a very long prison sentence. If it comes out that they were purposely trying to agitate Arvery so they can “shoot him in self defense” I hope they both get the needle for that. This will all depend on what the 3rd guy is going to sing about. You know, the guy in the 2nd truck recording this and I am sure he doesn’t want to spend 20+ years in a cage.

At this early stage, one does best to not assume too much or foreclose too much. We do not yet have the McMasters' side of the story, so my comments should not be taken as definitive but as suggestive and cautionary.

For example, what if it is proved that the McMasters stopped Arbery not to arrest him but only to ask who he was and if he had any knowledge of the theft of the gun from the vehicle at the McMasters' house? That could make their stop of Arbery legal as a temporary detention instead of an illegal arrest.

Moreover, what if one of the McMasters actually saw the theft of the gun as it occurred and wanted a good look at Arbery and some answers from him? That could make even a citizen's arrest of Arbery legal because the underlying gun theft was a felony that provides a basis for a citizen's arrest.

Similarly, one or both of the McMasters may be credentialed as reserve deputies or in the local sheriff's posse or have some other status that is considered an adjunct to full-time law enforcement. On that basis, the McMasters may have a colorable claim to have arrest powers on the specific facts.

If the McMasters' conduct was foolish and overbearing but lawful, they will probably win on a self-defense claim to the murder charge. After all, Arbery was the first to use actual force by going on the attack, turning an unpleasant experience into a lethal one. On similar reasoning, after the gunfight at the OK Corral, the Earps and Doc Holliday got the criminal charges against them dismissed.

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