Posted on 05/12/2020 4:21:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
The tragic back road shooting of an unarmed black man by a former white police officer and his shotgun-wielding son in Brunswick, Georgia, has given the left a narrative they’re all too happy to run with, especially since blatant examples have been few and far between of late. Indeed, comparisons to Trayvon Martin abounded on Twitter by people ironically ignoring the fact that their “proof” that America is some sort of Klan-infested racist hotbed full of bigots just waiting to gun down hapless runners for the “crime” of “jogging while black” happened over eight years ago, in 2012, and was “justified,” according to one juror.
This story, however, seems on the surface to be an entirely different thing. I’m not going to speculate too much this early in the process, but I will say that it’s hard to imagine any reasonable person taking weapons and following anyone of any color down the street, much less blocking a road and trying to initiate a “citizens arrest.” It was dumb, it was unjustified, and Greg and Travis McMichael should feel the full weight of the law.
But there’s a difference between stupidly gunning-up and taking matters into your own hands because you believe a person may be a criminal, thus ending up in a deadly scuffle of your own making, and gunning-up to hunt down and murder a black man simply for being black. Both will land you in prison, of course, but with different sentences—sentences a jury will decide.
Meanwhile, however, the ‘jury’ of American public opinion seems to be leaning heavily in favor of the version that puts America firmly in an era where lynchings were the norm and these men as no different from those evil vigilantes of old or even the racist scumbags who drug James Byrd to his grisly death in 1998.
While plenty of people on both sides rightly called for justice for Ahmaud Arbery for weeks, especially in light of the fact that the shooting happened in February and there were odd conflicts of interest at play in the local district attorney’s office, a good percentage of comments bordered on inflammatory, if not patently absurd.
“We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!” NBA legend LeBron James tweeted from the comfortable quarantine of his luxurious mansion while being adored by literally every man, woman, and child in America. “Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!?”
“This young man was jogging, and was hunted down and killed for absolutely no reason other than the color of his skin,” wrote a smugly certain Ellen DeGeneres.
Kentucky State Rep. Charles Booker demanded “hate crime legislation,” while attorney and former Obama-era official Walter Scaub called the shooting a “lynching.” CNN host Don Lemon said that “communities of color feel like we are under siege.” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms even tried to tie the shooting to President Trump.
The irresponsible comparisons weren’t limited to the left. Conservative writer David French wrote, “While we don’t yet know the full details about the McMichaels’ motives, their actions speak loudly enough. When white men grab guns and mount up to pursue and seize an unarmed black man in the street, they stand in the shoes of lynch mobs past.” And Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is now virtue-signaling his willingness to sign hate crimes legislation in the state.
Meanwhile, as conservative activist Candace Owens noted over the weekend, the narrative around Arbery’s actions has quietly gone from “just a jogger” to “just a trespasser.” That’s because Daily Mail published a previously unreleased surveillance video of a khaki-short-clad Arbery spending almost five minutes “appearing to loiter” inside an under-construction home. Obviously, loitering at a construction zone isn’t worthy of being shot or even confronted by weapon-wielding citizens, but it’s also hardly racist to be suspicious of a stranger in one’s neighborhood poking around where they aren’t supposed to be. Add Arbery’s own 2013 indictment for allegedly bringing a weapon to a high school basketball game and a 2018 arrest for shoplifting to the mix, and the caricature of ‘just a jogger’ is called into question.
Are black people being routinely gunned down in America for the “crime” of being black? Hardly. Such a dire pattern would doubtless dominate the news cycle daily, as this solitary case has and will continue to do for the foreseeable future. In fact, far more whites are actually killed and violently victimized by blacks than the other way around, and in higher percentages related to the overall population groups. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics for 2018, of the 563,940 violent incidents against blacks committed that year, only 10.6% (or ~60,000) were committed by whites. On the other hand, 15.3% (or ~548,000) of the 3,581,360 crimes committed against whites were perpetrated by black offenders. Further, according to BLS, “The offender-to-victim ratio shows that the percentage of violent incidents involving black offenders (22%) was twice the percentage of incidents committed against black victims (11%).” Blacks even comprise 24% of hate crime offenders, almost twice their representation among the population.
None of this should justify any sort of racism, nor should it imply that most blacks are criminals. In fact, the vast majority of people of all races are law-abiding. However, these facts definitely do a lot of damage to a certain preferred leftist narrative, which is one reason why you might not have ever heard them.
Back to the Arbery shooting, Candace Owens nailed what the topic of discussion should be centered around right now in an America less hyper-focused on racial politics: “The national debate SHOULD have been about the legitimacy of citizen’s arrests in light of a tragic outcome,” she wrote. “Instead, we went with BLACKS ARE LITERALLY BEING HUNTED WHEN THEY STEP OUT OF THEIR HOMES FOR NO REASON. Race-baiting ALWAYS leaves us looking emotional & foolish.”
No matter how you slice it, a man is dead who should be alive right now. But ironically, decades-removed from an era when alleged black offenders would rarely get a fair trial, the McMichaels’ chances, no matter what the facts turn out to be, of any outcome short of life without parole or even the death penalty in this highly politicized and racially charged case is next to nil.
“He was wearing shorts and sneakers and he appeared to be jogging”
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Have you ever “jogged” before? For say, more than 1 mile? Because any guy who has ever “jogged” for any distance would tell you that wearing cotton or synthetic cargo shorts while running would lead to your NUTS being scarred for life. NOBODY jogs in cargo shorts, belt, and polo shirt. And they certainly don’t wear their pants 8 inches down their ass with their underwear hanging out (watch video #1). BTW, southern men in rural, down-home areas DO NOT JOG!!!! They play football, baseball, and basketball, and they hunt and fish. They do NOT jog.
Because the elder McMichael knew exactly who the 'jogger' was, and had every reason to suspect that the 'jogger' was armed. The 'jogger' had NO WAY OUT. He knew if the McMichael's detained him until police arrived, he was a three strike felon who would be going to prison.
more video has come out that shows the guy has been hanging around that same house several times since October. The video taken on the day of the shooting shows him walking not jogging before he ran from the house. Why has he been hanging around that neighborhood for months when he lives 10 miles away? There have been several thefts in that neighborhood including the theft of a 9mm automatic from a vehicle owed by the McMichaels. There are a lot of unanswered questions about this case.
I do find it interesting how the media always tries to run pictures such as the one of him in a tuxedo, Martin when he was 12, and Brown in his cap and gown. I’m surprised that they don’t run their baby pictures.
1. You don’t know the facts of the case.
2. You don’t know the law in Georgia.
You are the first one on this thread who has any semblance of the actual facts of the case. Congratulations.
I never said cargo shorts...and the guy was a jogger.
I can't say what laws are in GA, but I find it highly unlikely that it's legal to chase someone with a loaded shotgun just because you caught him trespassing. You are correct in guessing that had be been white, nobody outside of that town would care. I could also guess that the deceased's family would sue and probably win a huge civil suit against the FB and his dad
I’ve been looking into this case from day two. Here are all the facts I’ve gathered in chronological order. My thoughts on it are in parenthesis.
Oct of 2019- there is video of a black male in the house under construction. Some accounts say this has been positively identified as Arbery others don’t.
January of 2020- Terry McMichaels reports gun stolen from his car outside his home. Some articles claim there are other robbers and break ins in the area, police only have a report on this one. (Where there other robberies not reported to the police but known in the neighborhood?)
Feb 23 2020- Video shows Arbery walking around and into the house under construction. He spends almost four minutes in the home. I have not found any site with the entire footage.
Someone (Bryan?) sees Arbery and Arbery runs out of the house and down the street.
Arbery runs right by Terry Michael’s house, whose father Gregory is visiting him. Gregory sees Arbery run past and tells his son to grab his gun and get in the truck.
The McMichaels and Bryan pursue Arbery (this is what was reported at first but now that Bryan has lawyered up he is claiming he was just following the McMichaels not helping them).
During the pursuit both Terry and Gregory make calls to 911 reporting the incident.(hardly the actions of some good old boys hunting down an innocent black jogger)
Arbery gets away and they continue to chase him. The McMichaels speed ahead with the father now in the bed of the truck. They cut Arbery off and the son gets out of the driver side of the car.
Gregory stays in the bed. Arbery runs at the truck then veers right toward the passenger side. Terry then cuts across the front of the truck toward the passenger side.
Both Arbey and Terry are not visible at this time. A shot is fired. Terry and Arbery reappear on the video moving to the left away from the front of the vehicle. They are struggling for the gun and Arbery punches Terry. Two more shots go off and Arbery falls to the ground dead.
Police arrive and take statements from the McMichaels. Gregory states that he saw surveillance video of Arbery stealing from the house under construction.(did the person in charge of the house construction show the local retired police officer the surveillance video in hopes he would keep an eye on the site?) Police also retain a copy of the video as evidence.
Feb 2020-Local DA Johnson recuses herself because Gregory McMichael use to work in her office. Later two country commissioners claim that police officers on the scene wanted to arrest the McMichaels but Johnson told them not to. Johnson denies this claim. (Obviously someone is lying. Both commissioners are black so are they lying to make it seem worse, or is Johnson lying because she covered a former employee and it’s blowing up in her face? I have found no statement from the police department verifying either story)
April 3 2020- DA Barnhill recuses himself from the case because his son worked on a case with Gregory McMichael. Before recuses himself he receives the autopsy and writes a letter to the captain of the Glynn police department outlining why he believes there are no grounds to arrest the McMichaels.
April 13- Thomas Durden is assigned the case.
May 5- Video of the incident is released by an attorney friend of Bryan. At first he states he thought the video would show they did nothing wrong. He later walks back that statement and says he was trying to stop a riot.(why the hell did this guy think the video would exonerate the McMichaels?)
Durden states he will present all evidence of case to grand jury and seek to charge the McMichaels.
Merrit, the Arbery families attorney, says there is no need to wait for a grand jury and the McMichaels should be arrested immediately.
Durden turns case over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
May 7- GBI arrest the McMichaels.
Please feel free to let me know anything. I missed.
I was about to say that Junior (he was the guy with the shotgun, right?) was in less trouble than the guy with the revolver but not now...
Violent black burglar attempts to murder white man and gets shot. That’s the news.
At the trial, I would expect that we will see more evidence of why Arbery was in the neighborhood-perhaps from a set of car keys or a phone.
You missed the hammer, which I think plays a significant part of this story.
Where did it come from?
Was it dropped at the scene of the shooting?
Was it used as a weapon?
Uh oh. Are you sure you meant to say that?
Since you're well informed of the facts of the case and of Georgia law, and having now made the McMichael's personal animus against Arbery part of the discussion, do you suppose it will be allowed as evidence when they go to trial?
I didn’t include it because I’ve only seen it from one source and pictures can be manipulated. Same with the shoes. It does appear to me he Leaves the house wearing different shoes than he went into it with. But that might be a truck of the lighting.
As they become available -- sure.
And guess whose 'case' he had investigated before he was retired. Guess what person he had met face to face, and knew all about that person's criminal activities.
All the more reason why this McMichael guy may have been absolutely the last person in the world who should have been out there making a "citizen's arrest" as a retired investigator.
Someone here posted the other day that Arbery's "criminal record" included an arrest for shoplifting -- in a case where he wasn't convicted. Did shoddy police work play a role in that case? Did McMichael pursue Arbery with a vendetta?
“What about two skinny rednecks? Would that make a difference?”
It may: If the skinny rednecks appear fit, then I may not attempt to wrestle the gun away and overpower them. But if I am a young fit guy and I am confronted by two obese men who appear to have the muscle tone of jelly and no stamina, then I may try to overpower them rather than run at the risk of getting shot in the back.
So they're political prisoners now? Really? I didn't realize inept vigilante wannabeism was a political act.
What a moron. He says he's not going to speculate. Then he immediately does exactly that.
I thought the local DA officially turned this case over to the GBI for investigation. There’s a .pdf out there.
Also. Is Gregory the camera man? Wasn’t he just charged? Isn’t a Grand Jury considering charges?
Thanks for this time line.
All the more reason why this McMichael guy may have been absolutely the last person in the world who should have been out there making a “citizen’s arrest” as a retired investigator.
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bort (and others) have repeatedly pointed out that NOTHING the McMichaels did that fateful day constituted a citizens arrest.
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