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Three White men who chased and murdered 25-year-old Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in south Georgia were sentenced to life in prison today. Two have no chance of parole. The third, a 52-year-old, will be eligible for parole under Georgia law only after serving a minimum of 30 years. Example news coverage: CNN.com article 7 Jan 2022, Yahoo! News article 7 Jan 2022, New York Times article 7 Jan 2022.
Ahmaud Arbery was killed on the afternoon of February 20, 2020. The convicted men spotted Arbery jogging in a residential neighborhood near his home, determined— with zero evidence— that he was a suspect in recent area robberies, and chased him for 5 minutes with their pickup trucks. Once they proceeded to block him in, the three men closed on him, at least one leveling a shotgun at him while another recorded cellphone video. A fight ensued, and the man with the shotgun shot Arbery 3 times at close range.
As an aside, this is one of the critical ways that racial injustice is perpetrated. Not only are Black people convicted more often when brought to trial than Whites, and not only are they given harsher sentences when convicted, but they are also charged more often in circumstances where police and prosecutors use their discretion not to arrest or prosecute White suspects.
Aside #2: In case it's not obvious, this was a modern day lynching. White men decided a Black man in their neighborhood was a crime suspect. Even though they called 911 to report him, and even though he had committed no actual crime they witnessed, they decided to chase him down and threaten him with guns. When he acted to defend his life, they killed him. Then, of course, the chummy local authorities let them go.
Judge Timothy Walmsley told the courtroom on Friday that he was going to "sit quietly for one minute and that one minute represents a fraction of the [5 minutes] that Ahmaud Arbery was running" away. Example news coverage: Yahoo! News article, 7 Jan 2022.
Note how I do add the caution "so far" to justice having been delivered here. That's because the convicted men have avenues of appeal. Though there's no visible mistake in their trial, they are of course able to challenge it from multiple directions, and quite possibly the same racism embedded in the system that shrugged off their actions as "Seems legit" the first time will support them again on appeal. But it's also possible that they'll be convicted of more charges, as federal civil rights cases are pending against them.
A few other positive changes have come out of this case. The first district attorney who passed on charging the men, and who allegedly told the police not even to arrest them, has been charged with one felony count of violating the oath of a public officer. Days after the shooting the police chief was indicted on charges of coverup for unrelated incidents. Voters subsequently voted out the district attorney and elected new county commissioners who replaced the police chief. Finally, the Georgia legislature passed a bill, which was signed by the governor, repealing the law allowing Citizen's Arrest— a holdover law from the Civil War era used as a common pretext for lynchings, which these murderers asserted, falsely, in their defense.
Ahmaud Arbery was killed on the afternoon of February 20, 2020. The convicted men spotted Arbery jogging in a residential neighborhood near his home, determined— with zero evidence— that he was a suspect in recent area robberies, and chased him for 5 minutes with their pickup trucks. Once they proceeded to block him in, the three men closed on him, at least one leveling a shotgun at him while another recorded cellphone video. A fight ensued, and the man with the shotgun shot Arbery 3 times at close range.
Swept Under the Rug
This murder was originally swept under the rug. Police arrived at the scene and quickly made a determination that the men who chased Arbery and pointed a gun at him were acting in self defense. Nobody was arrested. Two district attorneys chose not to prosecute. Justice might never have been served... until 73 days later one of the perpetrators posted his cellphone video of the murder on social media, boasting about it. This caused an outrage among members of the community— and across the state and nationwide. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia's Attorney General, and the FBI were called upon to investigate.As an aside, this is one of the critical ways that racial injustice is perpetrated. Not only are Black people convicted more often when brought to trial than Whites, and not only are they given harsher sentences when convicted, but they are also charged more often in circumstances where police and prosecutors use their discretion not to arrest or prosecute White suspects.
Aside #2: In case it's not obvious, this was a modern day lynching. White men decided a Black man in their neighborhood was a crime suspect. Even though they called 911 to report him, and even though he had committed no actual crime they witnessed, they decided to chase him down and threaten him with guns. When he acted to defend his life, they killed him. Then, of course, the chummy local authorities let them go.
Justice Delayed but not Denied (So Far...)
This is a case where justice may have been delayed but has ultimately not been denied.... so far. The judge who sentenced the men today made the courtroom sit in silence for one minute before reading their sentencing to put "into context" how long they chased Arbery.Judge Timothy Walmsley told the courtroom on Friday that he was going to "sit quietly for one minute and that one minute represents a fraction of the [5 minutes] that Ahmaud Arbery was running" away. Example news coverage: Yahoo! News article, 7 Jan 2022.
Note how I do add the caution "so far" to justice having been delivered here. That's because the convicted men have avenues of appeal. Though there's no visible mistake in their trial, they are of course able to challenge it from multiple directions, and quite possibly the same racism embedded in the system that shrugged off their actions as "Seems legit" the first time will support them again on appeal. But it's also possible that they'll be convicted of more charges, as federal civil rights cases are pending against them.
A few other positive changes have come out of this case. The first district attorney who passed on charging the men, and who allegedly told the police not even to arrest them, has been charged with one felony count of violating the oath of a public officer. Days after the shooting the police chief was indicted on charges of coverup for unrelated incidents. Voters subsequently voted out the district attorney and elected new county commissioners who replaced the police chief. Finally, the Georgia legislature passed a bill, which was signed by the governor, repealing the law allowing Citizen's Arrest— a holdover law from the Civil War era used as a common pretext for lynchings, which these murderers asserted, falsely, in their defense.
