Ahmaud Arbery Verdict

“Three men were convicted of murder [last] Wednesday in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was running empty-handed through a Georgia subdivision when the white strangers chased him, trapped him on a quiet street and blasted him with a shotgun.” (AP News)

Both sides applaud the verdict:

“The defense strove mightily to remove all potential African-American jurors from this trial (and nearly succeeded) and complained about the paucity of ‘Bubba[s] and Joe Six Pack[s]’ on the jury; objected to the quiet presence of ‘black pastors’ in the courtroom; and invoked racial stereotypes in closing argument…

“But no citizen, regardless of color, should fear assault and murder while peaceably jogging through a neighborhood. A purported citizen’s arrest or self-defense claim ought never mask reckless vigilantism. The jury’s verdict was the common sense conclusion to a tragic case. At a time when so much seems to be going wrong in the United States, every American may be grateful that the McMichael-Bryan jury rejected blatant race-based demagoguery and did the right thing. Let us hope this righteous verdict is another step on the long road to racial reconciliation and justice for all.” (Rachel K. Paulose, Spectator World)

“Reasonable fear did not motivate this killing. The prosecution had only to mention the elder McMichael's own words on the 911 call he made. What emergency did he cite? ‘There's a Black male running down the street.’ By playing those words, the prosecutor gave the jurors a clear picture of what was in the defendants' minds…

“In a historical moment in which 11 White jurors and a single Black juror -- a cohort drawn from a county where nearly 27% of the population is Black -- affirmed that Black lives matter, the verdicts hopefully send a message to would-be vigilantes and everyone else that you cannot usurp the authority of law enforcement and think you won't be held accountable.” (Areva Martin, CNN)