The painful truth about Ahmaud Arberry

KingGUERRILLA

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Dec 1, 2020
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It's unlikely any other case in recent history has inspired more misinformation as media Outlets clearly have an incentive to racialize and dramatized every incident that comes their way

the simple fact is arberry was a well-known local Petty Criminal who was caught casing out a house that had suffered a string of recent burglaries and fled like a thief when he was confronted by the neighbor

The McMichaels weren't a couple of hillbillies sitting on their front porch downing canned beer when an innocent black jogger happened by

they are BOTH former professional law enforcement agents who recognized the local Petty Criminal hauling ass up the street from the video Larry English had captured after installing a security system and no trespassing sign due to the burglaries and may have been alerted by the first neighbor who had called 911 when he saw arberry illegally enter the crime scene and subsequently bolt when he realized he'd been caught

Per Georgia law they armed themselves and engaged in a Pursuit while on the phone with 911 and continued to relay the criminals position to the responding officers

At one point Arberry decided he was going to attack the McMichaels and ran towards Travis grabbing his shotgun and punching him in the face numerous times committing a felony assault

In fact it was so obvious a simple self-defense shooting that they couldn't even determine whether or not Travis had pulled the trigger intentionally or not as when an attacking person is pulling on a long gun it is perfectly plausible that they themselves set the fire arm off

The notion that a couple of vigilante Hillbillies set upon an innocent black jogger and gunned him down in the street is a complete joke

The fact is Arberry committed a crime by entering a residence with a no trespassing sign and then bolted when confronted thus providing reasonable suspicion that he was in fact the person they recognized from the videos and a prior encounter Travis had with him. In fact Gregory McMichael knew arberry because he had worked on one of his previous crimes

It's absolutely hilarious that mainstream media Outlets can get away with a false narrative and an edited video designed to convince people that these two men are bloodthirsty murderers who decided to hunt down an innocent black jogger, if they had planned to murder a jogger they certainly wouldn't have used a shotgun with a less-lethal round then is a available at Walmart to do so.

It certainly is a shame that businesses who have suffered damage due to riots can't sue these media outlets for false information leading to the violence and destruction that has crippled their
 
It's unlikely any other case in recent history has inspired more misinformation as media Outlets clearly have an incentive to racialize and dramatized every incident that comes their way

the simple fact is arberry was a well-known local Petty Criminal who was caught casing out a house that had suffered a string of recent burglaries and fled like a thief when he was confronted by the neighbor

The McMichaels weren't a couple of hillbillies sitting on their front porch downing canned beer when an innocent black jogger happened by

they are BOTH former professional law enforcement agents who recognized the local Petty Criminal hauling ass up the street from the video Larry English had captured after installing a security system and no trespassing sign due to the burglaries and may have been alerted by the first neighbor who had called 911 when he saw arberry illegally enter the crime scene and subsequently bolt when he realized he'd been caught

Per Georgia law they armed themselves and engaged in a Pursuit while on the phone with 911 and continued to relay the criminals position to the responding officers

At one point Arberry decided he was going to attack the McMichaels and ran towards Travis grabbing his shotgun and punching him in the face numerous times committing a felony assault

In fact it was so obvious a simple self-defense shooting that they couldn't even determine whether or not Travis had pulled the trigger intentionally or not as when an attacking person is pulling on a long gun it is perfectly plausible that they themselves set the fire arm off

The notion that a couple of vigilante Hillbillies set upon an innocent black jogger and gunned him down in the street is a complete joke

The fact is Arberry committed a crime by entering a residence with a no trespassing sign and then bolted when confronted thus providing reasonable suspicion that he was in fact the person they recognized from the videos and a prior encounter Travis had with him. In fact Gregory McMichael knew arberry because he had worked on one of his previous crimes

It's absolutely hilarious that mainstream media Outlets can get away with a false narrative and an edited video designed to convince people that these two men are bloodthirsty murderers who decided to hunt down an innocent black jogger, if they had planned to murder a jogger they certainly wouldn't have used a shotgun with a less-lethal round then is a available at Walmart to do so.

It certainly is a shame that businesses who have suffered damage due to riots can't sue these media outlets for false information leading to the violence and destruction that has crippled their

I never bought that "But him wuz jus a poor black jogger" spiel the media turned that into.
 
It's unlikely any other case in recent history has inspired more misinformation as media Outlets clearly have an incentive to racialize and dramatized every incident that comes their way

the simple fact is arberry was a well-known local Petty Criminal who was caught casing out a house that had suffered a string of recent burglaries and fled like a thief when he was confronted by the neighbor

The McMichaels weren't a couple of hillbillies sitting on their front porch downing canned beer when an innocent black jogger happened by

they are BOTH former professional law enforcement agents who recognized the local Petty Criminal hauling ass up the street from the video Larry English had captured after installing a security system and no trespassing sign due to the burglaries and may have been alerted by the first neighbor who had called 911 when he saw arberry illegally enter the crime scene and subsequently bolt when he realized he'd been caught

Per Georgia law they armed themselves and engaged in a Pursuit while on the phone with 911 and continued to relay the criminals position to the responding officers

At one point Arberry decided he was going to attack the McMichaels and ran towards Travis grabbing his shotgun and punching him in the face numerous times committing a felony assault

In fact it was so obvious a simple self-defense shooting that they couldn't even determine whether or not Travis had pulled the trigger intentionally or not as when an attacking person is pulling on a long gun it is perfectly plausible that they themselves set the fire arm off

The notion that a couple of vigilante Hillbillies set upon an innocent black jogger and gunned him down in the street is a complete joke

The fact is Arberry committed a crime by entering a residence with a no trespassing sign and then bolted when confronted thus providing reasonable suspicion that he was in fact the person they recognized from the videos and a prior encounter Travis had with him. In fact Gregory McMichael knew arberry because he had worked on one of his previous crimes

It's absolutely hilarious that mainstream media Outlets can get away with a false narrative and an edited video designed to convince people that these two men are bloodthirsty murderers who decided to hunt down an innocent black jogger, if they had planned to murder a jogger they certainly wouldn't have used a shotgun with a less-lethal round then is a available at Walmart to do so.

It certainly is a shame that businesses who have suffered damage due to riots can't sue these media outlets for false information leading to the violence and destruction that has crippled their


With all due respect, you ain't seen nothing yet.

In the coming decades, there will be outrages that are even worse.

The perp will become the victim; the victim, the perp.

There ain't nothing that can be done about it, for more and more "journalists" will be those "kids" who marched in 2020's BLM demonstrations.

That's the future United States. What a tragedy!
 
The media ignited race riots based on a lie.

They always lie and are full of BS. They only report stories that advance their agenda and even regarding those never report the truth.

Trash in, trash out. They should not be paid any attention at all by thinking beings.
 
It's unlikely any other case in recent history has inspired more misinformation as media Outlets clearly have an incentive to racialize and dramatized every incident that comes their way

the simple fact is arberry was a well-known local Petty Criminal who was caught casing out a house that had suffered a string of recent burglaries and fled like a thief when he was confronted by the neighbor

The McMichaels weren't a couple of hillbillies sitting on their front porch downing canned beer when an innocent black jogger happened by

they are BOTH former professional law enforcement agents who recognized the local Petty Criminal hauling ass up the street from the video Larry English had captured after installing a security system and no trespassing sign due to the burglaries and may have been alerted by the first neighbor who had called 911 when he saw arberry illegally enter the crime scene and subsequently bolt when he realized he'd been caught

Per Georgia law they armed themselves and engaged in a Pursuit while on the phone with 911 and continued to relay the criminals position to the responding officers

At one point Arberry decided he was going to attack the McMichaels and ran towards Travis grabbing his shotgun and punching him in the face numerous times committing a felony assault

In fact it was so obvious a simple self-defense shooting that they couldn't even determine whether or not Travis had pulled the trigger intentionally or not as when an attacking person is pulling on a long gun it is perfectly plausible that they themselves set the fire arm off

The notion that a couple of vigilante Hillbillies set upon an innocent black jogger and gunned him down in the street is a complete joke

The fact is Arberry committed a crime by entering a residence with a no trespassing sign and then bolted when confronted thus providing reasonable suspicion that he was in fact the person they recognized from the videos and a prior encounter Travis had with him. In fact Gregory McMichael knew arberry because he had worked on one of his previous crimes

It's absolutely hilarious that mainstream media Outlets can get away with a false narrative and an edited video designed to convince people that these two men are bloodthirsty murderers who decided to hunt down an innocent black jogger, if they had planned to murder a jogger they certainly wouldn't have used a shotgun with a less-lethal round then is a available at Walmart to do so.

It certainly is a shame that businesses who have suffered damage due to riots can't sue these media outlets for false information leading to the violence and destruction that has crippled their


With all due respect, you ain't seen nothing yet.

In the coming decades, there will be outrages that are even worse.

The perp will become the victim; the victim, the perp.

There ain't nothing that can be done about it, for more and more "journalists" will be those "kids" who marched in 2020's BLM demonstrations.

That's the future United States. What a tragedy!
It's definitely a plausible reality as the social media infrastructure is ripe for disinformation
 
The media ignited race riots based on a lie.

They always lie and are full of BS. They only report stories that advance their agenda and even regarding those never report the truth.

Trash in, trash out. They should not be paid any attention at all by thinking beings.
I think it's a very simple profit motivation as the primary demographic they target has disposable income and can easily be incited with stories of victimhood
 
It's unlikely any other case in recent history has inspired more misinformation as media Outlets clearly have an incentive to racialize and dramatized every incident that comes their way

the simple fact is arberry was a well-known local Petty Criminal who was caught casing out a house that had suffered a string of recent burglaries and fled like a thief when he was confronted by the neighbor

The McMichaels weren't a couple of hillbillies sitting on their front porch downing canned beer when an innocent black jogger happened by

they are BOTH former professional law enforcement agents who recognized the local Petty Criminal hauling ass up the street from the video Larry English had captured after installing a security system and no trespassing sign due to the burglaries and may have been alerted by the first neighbor who had called 911 when he saw arberry illegally enter the crime scene and subsequently bolt when he realized he'd been caught

Per Georgia law they armed themselves and engaged in a Pursuit while on the phone with 911 and continued to relay the criminals position to the responding officers

At one point Arberry decided he was going to attack the McMichaels and ran towards Travis grabbing his shotgun and punching him in the face numerous times committing a felony assault

In fact it was so obvious a simple self-defense shooting that they couldn't even determine whether or not Travis had pulled the trigger intentionally or not as when an attacking person is pulling on a long gun it is perfectly plausible that they themselves set the fire arm off

The notion that a couple of vigilante Hillbillies set upon an innocent black jogger and gunned him down in the street is a complete joke

The fact is Arberry committed a crime by entering a residence with a no trespassing sign and then bolted when confronted thus providing reasonable suspicion that he was in fact the person they recognized from the videos and a prior encounter Travis had with him. In fact Gregory McMichael knew arberry because he had worked on one of his previous crimes

It's absolutely hilarious that mainstream media Outlets can get away with a false narrative and an edited video designed to convince people that these two men are bloodthirsty murderers who decided to hunt down an innocent black jogger, if they had planned to murder a jogger they certainly wouldn't have used a shotgun with a less-lethal round then is a available at Walmart to do so.

It certainly is a shame that businesses who have suffered damage due to riots can't sue these media outlets for false information leading to the violence and destruction that has crippled their

I never bought that "But him wuz jus a poor black jogger" spiel the media turned that into.
It's amazing and very concerning how many people did
 
The only thing I object to is that they chased and made contact. They're not cops anymore. They should not have been out of the truck.
It's completely legal to chase someone who you have Reasonable Suspicion has committed a crime

AreBerry "made contact" when he committed felony assault
 
The only thing I object to is that they chased and made contact. They're not cops anymore. They should not have been out of the truck.
It's completely legal to chase someone who you have Reasonable Suspicion has committed a crime

AreBerry "made contact" when he committed felony assault
I work security. I follow safely behind, and I'm limited to the territory or property of my client as far as how I follow. Otherwise I direct police dispatchers to last known locations.

These guys should have stayed way back, observed and reported, never have stopped or exited their vehicle.

That said I'm glad the world is rid of another thief. Yet in this climate of bed wetting liberals controlling the justice system we have other priorities.

Like purging those parasites.


.
 
The only thing I object to is that they chased and made contact. They're not cops anymore. They should not have been out of the truck.
It's completely legal to chase someone who you have Reasonable Suspicion has committed a crime

AreBerry "made contact" when he committed felony assault
I work security. I follow safely behind, and I'm limited to the territory or property of my client as far as how I follow. Otherwise I direct police dispatchers to last known locations.

These guys should have stayed way back, observed and reported, never have stopped or exited their vehicle.

That said I'm glad the world is rid of another thief. Yet in this climate of bed wetting liberals controlling the justice system we have other priorities.

Like purging those parasites.


.
I couldn't agree more, their idea of physically interceding was legal but foolish

It's very likely they recognized Arberry from all the video they'd seen of his previous trespasses
 
If only Georgia Law agreed with your description. But it doesn’t. And there be the rub. Now the three heroes will have some time in Prison to consider their actions. Other could use it as a teachable moment and restrain some idiot from tearing off in hot pursuit. But it won’t.
 
The only thing I object to is that they chased and made contact. They're not cops anymore. They should not have been out of the truck.
It's completely legal to chase someone who you have Reasonable Suspicion has committed a crime

AreBerry "made contact" when he committed felony assault

Not under Georgia Law it isn’t. But hey. Why let facts screw up your narrative.
 
I'm eager to see what happens in this case.

Everyone watches the video and comes to their own conclusion. In my opinion, as a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment and concealed carry permit holder, I believe the only way Travis McMichael avoids the death penalty is if he makes a deal. I believe Gregory McMichael goes to prison for a minimum of 20 years. I may be a bit off on both of those, but they're both going to spend a long time in prison.

They armed themselves, chased down someone down and killed him. And they have it on video. Those are facts. Was Arbury a thief? I dunno', sure. Let's say he was. Did Gregory and Travis McMichael actually witness him stealing anything? No, by their own admission they did not. His previous actions did not justify the actions taken by the McMichael's boys.

Oh, and to a point made by the OP, I haven't seen a single thing which says the younger McMichael was a former law enforcement professional. Frankly, the guy looks like he'd have a difficult time dressing himself...
 
If only Georgia Law agreed with your description. But it doesn’t. And there be the rub. Now the three heroes will have some time in Prison to consider their actions. Other could use it as a teachable moment and restrain some idiot from tearing off in hot pursuit. But it won’t.
What part of Georgia law did the McMichaels violate?
 
I'm eager to see what happens in this case.

Everyone watches the video and comes to their own conclusion. In my opinion, as a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment and concealed carry permit holder, I believe the only way Travis McMichael avoids the death penalty is if he makes a deal. I believe Gregory McMichael goes to prison for a minimum of 20 years. I may be a bit off on both of those, but they're both going to spend a long time in prison.

They armed themselves, chased down someone down and killed him. And they have it on video. Those are facts. Was Arbury a thief? I dunno', sure. Let's say he was. Did Gregory and Travis McMichael actually witness him stealing anything? No, by their own admission they did not. His previous actions did not justify the actions taken by the McMichael's boys.

Oh, and to a point made by the OP, I haven't seen a single thing which says the younger McMichael was a former law enforcement professional. Frankly, the guy looks like he'd have a difficult time dressing himself...
Travis McMichael was trained by the US military in law enforcement and it's perfectly legal to arm yourself and Chase someone you suspect of committing a crime in the state of Georgia and if that person decides to violently attack you you're allowed to defend yourself as well
 
If only Georgia Law agreed with your description. But it doesn’t. And there be the rub. Now the three heroes will have some time in Prison to consider their actions. Other could use it as a teachable moment and restrain some idiot from tearing off in hot pursuit. But it won’t.
What part of Georgia law did the McMichaels violate?


From the get go they were breaking the various laws.
 
I'm eager to see what happens in this case.

Everyone watches the video and comes to their own conclusion. In my opinion, as a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment and concealed carry permit holder, I believe the only way Travis McMichael avoids the death penalty is if he makes a deal. I believe Gregory McMichael goes to prison for a minimum of 20 years. I may be a bit off on both of those, but they're both going to spend a long time in prison.

They armed themselves, chased down someone down and killed him. And they have it on video. Those are facts. Was Arbury a thief? I dunno', sure. Let's say he was. Did Gregory and Travis McMichael actually witness him stealing anything? No, by their own admission they did not. His previous actions did not justify the actions taken by the McMichael's boys.

Oh, and to a point made by the OP, I haven't seen a single thing which says the younger McMichael was a former law enforcement professional. Frankly, the guy looks like he'd have a difficult time dressing himself...
Travis McMichael was trained by the US military in law enforcement and it's perfectly legal to arm yourself and Chase someone you suspect of committing a crime in the state of Georgia and if that person decides to violently attack you you're allowed to defend yourself as well

And where did you get your law degree? Or where did you learn about Georgia Law. Because what you are saying is literally the exact opposite of what I was told by a lawyer. And the opposite of what the cop teaching the Concealed Carry Class said. And I live in Georgia. So perhaps some context might help.
 
The painful truth about Ahmaud Arbery?

I listened to this essay...and it was powerful.


Ahmaud Arbery, by all accounts, loved to run. But he wasn't, by his own account, a runner. There's no evidence of Maud training for 10Ks, or full or half marathons, or obsessing over his miles or PR times, but he loved it. Maud would run in a white T-shirt and khaki shorts. He'd run shirtless in basketball shorts. He'd run in a tank top and hoop shoes. As his day-one homeboy, Keem, sums it, he could run in anything.

When Keem was home from college, he and Maud would cruise to one end of the longest-spanning bridge in all of Georgia. They'd do some warm-up stretching and jaunt back and forth across it, a distance of just under 3 miles. The pair would keep a steady pace. But sometimes, Keem says, Maud would push him.

On February 23 of this year, Maud went out for a run. The location of this run was a subdivision in Glynn County called Satilla Shores. It's a neighborhood of waterfront properties, of upper and middle-class families, of retired folk and fresh transplants. No one can know for sure the route he took before reaching Satilla Shores, but he'd set off from his home. So that means there's a good chance that on his run, he passed homes flying a Confederate flag or the "Don't Tread on Me" Gadsden flag, and hella homes warning "No Trespassing."

On February 23 when Maud went jogging, he was dressed in light-colored low-top Nikes, a white T-shirt, and khaki cargo shorts. Maud, who was 25 years old, jogged alone.

Maud's family home in Brunswick, the one where he lived at the time he was killed, is a mere 2 miles from Satailla Shores. But in meaningful ways, it's almost another country. Matter of fact, the poverty rate of what young Black residents call The Wick is a staggering 38%.

The Wick is where Ahmaud Marquez Arbery was born on May 8, 1994. He was the third beloved child of Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, Sr. Their working-class family included his older brother Marcus Buck, Jr., and sister Jasmine. The family called Ahmaud, Quez, a shortened version of his middle name, while his friends called him Maud.

Maud had a slight gap in his front teeth and dark skin forever burnished by hours outside. When Maud was in middle school, the family moved to a small, white house on Boykin Ridge Drive, where Maud continued to share a room with his brother. Per his big bro, Buck, Maud was the slob.

In high school, Maud landed a gig at the local McDonald's. He did it to keep some scratch in his pocket, but also to help his mother, who often worked two jobs. Some days, Maud's homeboy, Keem, would swoop in from work and wheel them to the Golden Isles YMCA. They would hoop or work out for six or seven hours straight before bopping over to the Glynn Place Mall for the fries and wing combo at American Deli, and heading right back for beaucoup hours more of playing and training. Back then, Maud favored slim jeans, bright-colored polos and rugbys, and kept his hair shorn low with the crispiest of edge-ups.

Maud played football from the peewee league through high school, and ended up an undersized varsity linebacker. But he was also a team captain who led his Brunswick High School Pirates in pre-game chants. Though never cock-diesel strong, Maud owned a super-hearted fearlessness on the field and often astonished his coaches with big hits, and his senior year, made the storied Florida-Georgia War of the Border all-star game.

Not to mention, this was South Georgia football, so Maud competed in a league that produced pros and played before some of the biggest high school football crowds in the country. Before he was an all-star, though, Maud tore his ACL and meniscus in a JV game. While a less dedicated player might have given up, he committed to a laborious rehab. His junior year, he wore a leg brace, a hindrance that diminished his chance of playing in college.

Like Maud, I was a passionate high school athlete. My sport was hoop. Like Maud, no major college program offered me a scholarship. Both Maud and me attended small schools in our home state. Maud quit after a year and returned to Brunswick and his mother's home. I, too, quit my first community college. But unlike Maud, there was no need to return home to my mother's cramped apartment, as I was living there all the while.

The year after he graduated, Maud was arrested for carrying a gun and sentenced to five years of probation, which he violated by shoplifting. A few years after I graduated high school, I was arrested with drugs and a gun, and sentenced to 16 months in an Oregon state prison.

At 25, Maud was a runner who had every reason to believe his life had more miles ahead of him than behind him. At 25, I enrolled in the first of two graduate writing programs. Today, Maud-- dear God, why-- is dead. And I, by grace, am a writer-professor hurtling toward middle age.

At 1:04 PM on February 23, a security camera shows 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery wandering up a sunny patch of narrow road and stopping on the lawn of a sand-colored, under-construction bungalow addressed 220 Satilla Drive. Maybe he wondered what the skeleton of beams, and sheetrock, and piping, and wire would look like when it was finished. Maybe he imagined a family who could afford to live in a place so close to the water.

What we know for sure is that while inside, Maud touched none of the construction materials laying about. We also know that Maud wasn't the first person whose curiosity urged them into the site. Security cameras recorded a white couple one evening, a pair of white boys one day, and on four occasions, what appears to be the same person-- a slim, young Black man with wild natural hair and tattoos on his shoulders and arms. The homeowner will confirm that nothing was ever stolen or damaged during any of the visits.

At 1:07 PM, a neighbor spying on Maud called 911. There's a guy in the house right now, he told the dispatcher, and went on to describe Maud-- Black guy, white T-shirt. The dispatcher replied, I just need to know what he was doing wrong.

The caller watched Maud leave the site. He's running down the street, he said to the dispatcher. Maud jogged past the house located a few doors down of another neighbor, Gregory McMichael, an ex-cop that had once had his power to arrest stripped for failing to attend use-of-force training.

Gregory and his son, Travis McMichael, armed themselves, the son with a shotgun and the father with a .357, and hopped in a white Ford pickup truck. From his front yard, William "Roddie" Bryan saw his neighbors hounding Maud, jumped in his pickup, and joined the chase. Maud ran and doubled back to elude the McMichaels, maybe recalling all the times he'd juked a would-be tackler on the field, only to find himself facing down Bryan's pickup. The elder McMichael, Gregory, climbed into the bed of his son's truck, the one with the Confederate decal toolbox, armed with his .357.

He called 911. There's a Black male running down the street, Gregory told dispatch. Maud fled for minutes that must have felt like an eon.

He found himself running toward a red-faced Travis McMichael who stood inside the door of his truck with his shotgun aimed. Maud zagged one way, then the other. Stop right there, damn it. Stop, shouted Gregory. Maud crossed in front of the hood of the truck where Travis headed him off and shot him in no more than a heartbeat.

The buckshot hit Maud in the chest, puncturing his right lung, ribs, and sternum. And yet somehow, he wrestled with Travis for the shotgun. And yet somehow, he managed to punch at him, fighting for what he must have sensed was the rest of his life. Travis fired his shotgun a second time, grazing Maud's hand. He fired a third point-blank shot, this time piercing Maud in his upper chest.

Shotgun in hand, Travis backed away, watched Maud collapse, and made not the slightest effort to tend him. Per the police report, his father, still clutching his revolver, ran to where Maud lay face down, blood leaking out of his wounds, rolled him on his back, and checked for weapons that he, nor no one else, found.

Glynn County police sirened onto Satilla Drive within seconds of the slaying. They cordoned the scene and investigated. They questioned the McMichaels, Gregory's hands bloody from rolling Maud onto his back. They also questioned William Bryan. And in an act that is, itself, another violence, they let all three go about their merry way as free men for almost three months.

But before those squad cars reached the scene, Travis McMichael, per Brian's statement to investigators in May, called the 25-year-old whose life he'd just ceased for jogging a fucking N-word.

Ask yourself, who deserves to run? Who has the right? Ask yourself, who's a runner? What do they look like? Ask yourself, where do they live, and where do they run? And where can't they live, and where can't they run? Ask, what are the sanctions for asserting their right to live and run or, goddamn-you-me, to even exist in the world? Then question that, too.

The NAACP once defined lynching as a death in which, one, there was evidence that a person was killed; two, the death was illegal; and three, a group of at least three actors participated in the killing. On February 23, 2020, a Black man out for a run was lynched in Glynn County, Georgia. He was 25 years young. His name was Ahmaud Marquez Arbery, called Quez by his beloveds, and Maud by most others.

And what I want you to know about Maud is that he had a gift for impressions and a special knack for mimicking Martin Lawrence. And what I want you to know about Maud is that he was fond of sweets and requested his mother's fudge cake for the birthday parties he often shared with his big sister. That he signed the cards he bought for his mother, "Baby Boy." That he jammed his pinky hooping in high school, and instead of getting it treated like his sister Jasmine advised, he let it heal on its own, forever bent.

What I want you to know about Maud is that the love of his short life, Shenice, told me he sometimes recorded their conversations so he could listen to her voice when they were apart. What you should know about Maud is that he adored his nephews, Marcus III and Micah Arbery, that when they were upset as babies, he'd take them for long walks in their stroller until they calmed.

What you should know about Maud is that when a college friend asked his big sister which parent she'd call first if ever in serious trouble, she said, neither, that she'd call him. What I want you to know about Maud is that he was an avid connoisseur of the McChicken sandwich with cheese. You should know that Maud dreamed of a career as an electrician and of owning a construction company.

You should know that he told his boys that he wanted them all to buy a huge plot of land, build houses on it, and live in a gated community with their families. You should know that Maud never flew on a plane, but wanderlusted for trips to Jamaica, Africa, Japan.

What you must know about Maud is that when Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan stalked and killed him less than three months shy of his 26th birthday, he left behind his mother, Wanda, his father, Marcus Sr., his brother, Buck, his sister, Jasmine, his maternal grandmother, Ella, his nephews, 6 uncles, 10 aunts, a host of cousins, all of whom are unimaginably, irrevocably, incontrovertibly poorer from his absence.

Ahmaud Marquez Arbery was more than a viral video. He was more than a hashtag or a name on a list of tragic victims. He was more than a headline, or an op-ed, or a news package, or the news cycle. He was more than a retweet or shared post. He, doubtless, was more than our likes, or emoji tears, or hearts, or praying hands. He was more than an RIP T-shirt or placard.

He, for damn sure, was more than the latest reason for your liberal white friends' ephemeral outrage. He was more than a rally or a march. He was more than a symbol, more than a movement, more than a cause. He was loved.
 
I'm a conservative, concealed carryin', gun totin', 2nd Amendment supportin' upper middle class white guy.

And I believe the Gregory and Travis McMichael should be tried and, if the evidence supports it, convicted. If and when they are convicted, they should be awarded to harshest punishment available under the law...
 

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