In his final days, Ahmaud Arbery's life was at a crossroads (pure hagiography)

news.yahoo.com ^ | Aaron Morrison

[RoosterRedux]

He was at a crossroads, his life stretching out before him, his troubles largely behind him. He had enrolled at South Georgia Technical College, preparing to become an electrician, just like his uncles. But first, he decided, he would take a break. College could wait until the fall.

To help keep his head clear, he ran, just about every day. Off he’d go, out of the doors of his mother’s house, down the long street toward Fancy Bluff Road. Then would come the right turn onto the two-lane road lined by oak trees draped with Spanish moss.

About a mile and a half into his usual route, Ahmaud Arbery would cross the four lanes of Jekyll Island Causeway into the subdivision of Satilla Shores.

Three months ago, at the age of 25, he ran through Satilla Shores for the final time.

*snip*

Before Arbery’s name joined a litany of hashtags bearing young black men’s names, he was a skinny kid whose dreams of an NFL career didn’t pan out. Those who knew him speak of a seemingly bottomless reservoir of kindness he used to encourage others, of an easy smile and infectious laughter that could lighten just about any situation.

They also acknowledge the legal troubles that cropped up after high school — five years of probation for carrying a gun onto the high school campus in 2013, a year after graduation, and shoplifting from a Walmart store in 2017, a charge that extended that probation up until the time of his death.

[fieldmarshaldj]

First in was Saint Skittles, then the Gentle Giant, now it’s Saint Armed Robbery.

[SunkenCiv]

Armed Robbery heh....

[Impy]

So this dude did have it coming? What’s the story? He wasn’t jogging?

[fieldmarshaldj]

“We all got it coming, kid.” — Bill Munny

[DiogenesLamp]

Not going to play your game. The point about the handgun is to make it understood that the f***ing thief was likely the one who took it, and it was reasonable to believe he was carrying it.

I'm quite certain that if the GBI was as interested in finding that gun as they were in creating a show trial, that gun would be found, and it would be traced back to that piece of sh*t Arbery.

You may feel differently, but I think it's foolish to postulate more than one thief when we know this guy kept coming back.

[DiogenesLamp]

Now, that’s an interesting hypothetical. I want to say no, it’s not worth the chase, and a possible gunfight at the end. I’d rather the police handle such a situation.

So would I. Getting into this sort of fight is best left for people who have nothing, and therefore nothing to lose.

And in the Arbery case, the reward (catching a petty thief) was not worth the risk of gunplay.

I think the cop simply behaved as he had always done for the last 35 years. He did not shy away from a gunfight because such behavior was expected of him for most of his life.

But it's not just about the petty thievery. How well would you sleep at night with a recurring burglar running in and out between yours and the neighbors houses, especially knowing he's got your gun?

Remember, they had been putting up with these nighttime visits for three months or more, and at some point, even the most pacifistic among us would want this behavior stopped. It would get unnerving.

[Meatspace]

You might be absolutely right that Arbery stole the gun. If that is the case, Travis can take the stand at his trial and explain to the court why he believes that Arbery stole the gun.