For some, today is just another day in the world’s matrix. But, for those who are conscious of the environment around them, they recognize that there’s definitely something in the air and it’s not sweet.
The horrifying murder of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery is yet another hate crime that black people and human beings that care for other human beings are being forced to digest. Uproar over his death began two months after his murder when a local radio station host released a cellphone recording to the public.
The viral footage showed two white men, Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, shooting dead Arbery as he went on a jog in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood outside of Brunswick, Georgia on Sunday, February 23.
The two men had followed Arbery through the neighborhood, parked their car in the middle of the street and approached the young man with their loaded guns. A struggle commenced and three shots ranged out, killing Ahmaud Arbery. Despite clear footage being available to police, the two men still have not been arrested.
Upon investigation of why these men, who executed an unarmed man in broad daylight without proper authority or cause, were never arrested or charged comes down to the gun wielding men’s ties to the justice system in the suburban town. Apparently, Gregory McMichael is a former cop and worked in the district attorney’s office, causing him to get preferential treatment.
In addition, the two men reported to police that they were making a citizen’s arrest of the jogger who they suspected was attempting to burglarize a home in broad daylight.
The day of Arbery’s death, Glynn County police told his mother, Wanda Cooper, that he died while committing a robbery, which was proven false by the video footage. For the last couple of months, Cooper has unsuccessfully attempted to get answers to why the men have not been arrested.
“I’m feeling very discouraged at this point,” she said. “I just think about how they could allow these two men to kill my son and not be arrested. That’s what I can’t understand.”
Cooper still hasn’t been able to watch the footage showing her son being killed. Luckily, the latest outcry from protestors and across social media has drawn great attention to the case. Initially on the desk of the Brunswick District Attorney’s Office, the case was turned over to the Ware County District Attorney’s Office and finally, to the Hinesville District Attorney’s Office to avoid conflict of interest.
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At the recommendation of lawyers, protestors and activists, Hinesville district attorney Tom Durden inquired with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the homicide. As the coronavirus is being claimed as the reason why the case can’t move forward with a grand jury (something that could possibly be done similar to a Donald Trump press conference), protestors are losing patience with the justice system.
“This case would be run from headquarters. That will bring to bear every resource and all the experience this agency has in resolving this matter,” said Vic Reynolds, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “Usually, the right road isn’t the quickest or the fastest way, but it’s the right way. That’s the road we intend on taking. The governor of this state wants justice done in this case, as does the GBI. I’m confident we’ll deliver that.”
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We’ve heard about black people being killed by white people before. This is not new. Whether it’s slave owners from the 18th or 19th century or policemen from the 21st century, the narrative hasn’t changed. Some people won’t let go of their hatred and fear. As a result, when that hatred and fear is physically manifested through violence toward other human beings, the person at the helm of that energy should deal with the consequences.
As we know, there are no excuses when the question of freedom is in regards to a black man, despite the oppression of his circumstances brought on by inhumane and systemic barriers to a productive life. However, the delayed arrest and punishment of the McMichaels are attributed to all kinds of excuses, such as the coronavirus, past employment and citizen’s arrest.
“The decision to rely on the citizen’s arrest statute is really a recent invention, prior to that they just simply said it was self-defense,” said S. Lee Merritt, attorney to the Arbery family.
But, as S. Lee Merritt suggested, why not take the two men into custody while they wait for their indictment?
“According to that law, you actually have to be observing the crime or be in the immediate knowledge of the crime,” Merritt continued in a statement. “Arbery had not committed any crime and there was no reason for these men to believe they had the right to stop him with weapons or to use deadly force in furtherance of their unlawful attempted stop.”
Two phone calls to the police were released early on Thursday morning by the Guardian. In the calls, an unidentified caller admitted that Arbery was not doing anything but running near a house currently under construction.
“He’s running right now, and there he goes right now,” the unidentified caller exclaimed.
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The death of Ahmaud Arbery is a sure sign that our society is in trouble. There are negative remnants of the past that refuse to die. They live through our grandparents, who pass down the dysfunctional ill-fated mentality to the youth.
Not only is racism and discrimination unproductive for all of us, but it’s a nasty stain on the American pedigree. How can one take pride in their jobs and material possessions, knowing that their character and moral fabric is tainted by small-thinking and generational grudges? How can one go to churches on Sunday or be a servant of the law knowing that they have evil seeds of hate festering in their very bitter souls?
Senseless deaths of black people affects all of us, whether we are black or not. Do white people know how other races perceive them when incidents like this happen? For the white people who have good sense and recognize the err in their fellow brothers’ ways, how hard is it for them to come to terms that they now have to navigate a world where their whiteness equates to barbaric behavior in the minds of those around them? Ask yourself, is this the world you want your children to grow up in?
As for Arbery, may he run in peace in the afterlife.
“Everybody knows all he did was run and work out. He took a lot of pride in what he wants to do,” said Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery. “He was a very bright young man who knew what he wanted to do in life. He wanted to be an athlete, always involved in sports. He always told me he wanted to box, kept telling me them things. That’s why he was always training.”
“They say they witnessed a crime. But, all of us witnessed a crime when that video was released. Why can’t we take the law into our own hands? Even in the definition of a vigilante, why did the men serve death for an alleged robbery. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime anyway and again, a crime was never committed. Even criminals can have their day in court before being sentenced to the death penalty. If the men believed he did a crime, why the hell didn’t they go through the proper protocol that is mandated by the law? Why did they choose death for this young man before considering his rights?”
-Anonymous
