Refusing to let the media define the Ahmaud Arbery narrative: Here are the facts we know

In the Ahmaud Arbery case, the media, as always, are theorizing in advance of the data, and they are doing so in service to a divisive racial agenda. The undisputed facts (excluding the inevitably self-interested statements from the men arrested) are as follows:

Travis McMichael shot 24-year-old Arbery. The question is whether it was self-defense, manslaughter or murder.

Greg and Travis McMichaels (father and son) are white, while Arbery was black.

Videos show Arbery entering a home under construction and Arbery inside the construction site.

Shortly before Arbery was shot, Greg called 911 to report that “There’s a black male running down the street.” He’s then heard to say “Goddamit. C’mon, Travis.”

In a second 911 call around the same time, an unidentified caller reported a possible burglary in the neighborhood, saying, “There’s a guy in the house right now, a house under construction.” Next, the caller said, “And he’s running right now. There he goes right now.” The unidentified caller reported that the possible burglar had been seen before in the neighborhood and had “been caught on the camera a bunch before at night,” adding “It’s kind of an ongoing thing out here.”

An infamous video (above) shows Arbery either running or jogging down the left side of the street. The verb “running” implies escape or aggression. The verb “jogging” has a recreational feel.

A white pick-up is seen further up the road, on the right side, with a man standing by the driver’s side door. Arbery abruptly veers across the street towards the right rear of the truck. A man stands in the truck bed. The video swerves, showing only foliage.

Seconds later, Arbery is running at top speed counterclockwise around the truck’s front right side.

Again, I was just pointing out discrepancies, not supporting the father and son. But yes, foot ware is relevant. I used to jog around in a big city when I was younger. The best advice I ever got was ‘look at their feet. People who are actually jogging or running will need to have proper foot ware’. This was after I was accosted by a guy I didn’t know. Put his hands on me and my adrenaline kicked in so fast I clipped him on the chin with my fist. Foot ware does matter. And the videos of him walking around the house that is being constructed has him in light colored shoes, shortly before the altercation. The video of him when he went after the younger man has him in dark, high sided boots. Get new glasses.

Turns out the guy, who was no angel BTW nor was he a "jogger", had possibly swiped a hammer from the construction site. Probably doesn't even meet the Georgia standard of felony theft.

So let me ask you this. When you see someone running out of a house that had been burglarized numerous times, does your X-Ray vision tell you whether or not the items he may have stolen is over the threshold for felony?

I was just wondering, because it would seem to me that you cannot figure out whether he stole items worth enough to qualify as "felony theft" unless you can actually see the items he might have stolen.

So you see a guy running out of a burglarized house, you let him go because you don't know if he stole stuff worth a lot?

How does that work? It would seemingly make it very difficult to ever catch a criminal.

‘Gregory told police he had seen surveillance footage of Arbery inside the home stealing.’

this is not a ‘fact’; it is McMichael’s assertion...

‘If Gregory did see that video then it was perfectly legal for him to make a citizens arrest because he had immediate knowledge of a felony.’

also not a fact, as is obvious from your insertion of ‘if’, making it a subjunctive...

‘the roadblock was the second attempt by the McMichaels to stop Arbery.’

again assertion from McMichael, not a ‘fact’...

Look closer. It shows the video focusing on the hammer that was dropped on the pavement. The video guy is trying to make sure he captures the hammer lying on the road as he drives up to it.

Problem being that in the video the victim is running on the left side of the street, the hammer is in the right lane, and there is no film that he threw it.

There is also the inconvenient fact that the owner of the construction site says nothing was taken - Link.

You can see his shoes here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=643887479802708

I can't see that video because my old system won't play it. It looks like the video of him walking into the garage. Yes, he walked in with white tennis shoes. Does it show him leaving the house with white tennis shoes?

And his footware is irrelevant to the issue.

No it isn't. If he's wearing boots, it means the "jogging" claim is just a lie. It may also mean he stole those boots from that house. This establishes that he was not "innocently" looking inside the house. He was there to steal.

Do you have images of his footwear after he left the house?

No idea about the hammer. I'd just point out that the homeowner says that noting was stolen from his house.

The homeowner and the video guy are running away from this as fast as they possibly can. The homeowner has no obligation to tell the truth, and a *LOT* of reasons to pretend he's not involved.

Also the homeowner lives in another city. Did he go by the house to check, or is he just talking out his @$$ telling people what they want to hear?

Probably anything that would get stolen came from the construction people.

Pretty sure they won't want a piece of this either unless the law compels them to say something about it.

Well, for starters, I was pointing out the irony of the guy losing his life over a $25 clawhammer.

But to answer your question: Easy. There ain't no "stuff" on earth that's worth getting into a situation like these guys did that has the potential to blow up in one's face the way this one did.

It doesn't matter if he's got a big screen TV on his shoulder and a pillowcase full of jewelry, gold, and cash in the other hand.

If I know who he is, as these guys did, if I have incriminating video, as these guys claim to have, if I have neighbors who are willing to provide sworn testimony, I've got everything I need to go down to the police station that afternoon so they can get a warrant and go pick him up at mama's house. Next thing, I would call the insurance company, if he had actually stolen from me.

That is, unless I have an insatiable grudge against him and just totally hate his guts for stealing a revolver out of my truck. In that case I might be just itching for an excuse to go deal with him personally. /s

this is not a ‘fact’; it is McMichael’s assertion...

Pray tell how someone can know about a video of which they haven't been made aware?

The evidence demonstrates that there was in fact a video of Arbery in that house in October of 2019.

McMichaels said there was a video of Arbery in that house at night.

Did McMichaels just make up the claim of a video out of thin air, and it was just an amazing coincidence that McMichael's claim was in fact true?

Simpler explanation is that McMichael was aware of the video and had seen it.

Nobody makes up a claim of a video of which they were unaware. It's not humanly possible.

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