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 McMichael (father and son) are white, while Arbery was black.
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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 “[t]here’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 farther up the road, on the right side, with a man standing by the driver’s-side door. Arbery abruptly veers across the street toward the right rear of the truck. A man stands in the truck bed. The video swerves, showing only foliage.
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Seconds later, Arbery is running at top speed counterclockwise around the truck’s front right side. Two figures emerge on the front left side, partially obscured by the open driver’s side door. Travis, holding a rifle, is rapidly moving backward while Arbery is more rapidly moving toward him.
Arbery grabs Travis’s arms and the rifle while striking Travis’s head with his left arm.
Again, the video loses sight of the men. After momentarily focusing on Greg, in the back of the truck, it shifts back to Travis and Arbery. Again, Arbery is pushing Travis backward while grabbing the rifle and continuing to strike Travis’s head. The gun’s muzzle is aimed at Arbery’s center mass. Shots ring out.
Travis falls backward, still holding the rifle, its muzzle aimed at the ground. Arbery, fatally wounded, falls to the ground.
All media reports show pictures of Arbery as a clean-cut, smiling young man.
