I thought this case was a dumpster fire in Social Media, but I was short: It is Rome burning with harp music in the background.
The Media narrative of “jogging” bothered me a bit, so I asked a couple of question about it. At best I was treated like I wanted to subvert/ignore law so the accused could go free and not miss their next KKK meeting. At worst I wanted black people to be lynched in masse.
And that was from people in our side of Gun Rights and politics.
Screw that. We are waiting for the trial and the evidence presented in courts which, at the end of the day, is the only things that matter.
Benjamin Crump joined the fray, so it’s only going to get worse from here.
It’s not likely that the “trial and the evidence presented in courts” are “the only things that matter.” The acquittal of George Zimmerman didn’t matter one bit to the people who decided he was guilty long before the trial.
He is walking free…
His life is ruined. The process in this case was a significant punishment.
There are two videos by Colion Noir that might be worth watching. 1) He’s a lawyer, 2) he’s pro 2A
From what I can gather about the event, there are some things are off about the case.
The situation, as far as I can tell, comes down to these two possible situations:
1) Arbery was innocent as the newly driven snow and two non-LEOs stopped him. During that stop Arbery was killed.
2) Arbery was guilty as sin of doing something bad off camera and two non-LEOs stopped him. During that stop Arbery was killed.
The problem in this situation is that in both cases, Arbery was killed and that needs to be investigated and taken to a grand jury. It is highly likely that the grand jury will remand to trial.
The reason is that there does not seem to be any circumstance in the 911 calls, the video or any other evidence that we have access to that justifies the *stop*. Therefore the outcome of that stop is not self defense nor a “citizens arrest”.
In addition, there seems to be an issue with cops/former cops getting special treatment.
The race baiting is going on, but when everything is said and done this is going to come down to a homicide charge and hopefully some “corruption” charges against the “good ol’ boys” that declined to take the case to the grand jury cause the new the ex-cop
There are a thousand other possibilities that could have lead from the beginning to the end. Remember that the last time we saw Crump involved in a case, a white Hispanic wannabe cop turned Neighborhood watch Captain hunted down and lynched a young black boy in possession of Skittles and Iced Tea after being told to stand down by the cops whose only crime was being black in a white neighborhood.
One lawyer I’ve read compared self defense cases to menus.
Some cases are like selling grilled steak and potatoes- shooting the naked, drugged out guy hacking on your door with an axe for instance- it’s pretty obvious.
Others are like boiled dog, where one is going to be putting in a lot of time, effort, money, time, and lots of money to get someone to buy it… and they probably won’t.
I saw every person on our side took the narrative and any other position was attacked.
I don’t know what to believe. But when I first watched the video, I noticed that Arbery ran toward and attacked a guy with a shotgun. Not many good people would take that action. Doesn’t mean what the guys were doing was right, or that Arbery deserved to die. But Arbery certainly could have avoided the situation, and instead chose to engage.
This has reinforced a couple of lessons I took a way from the TM/GZ dumpster fire:
1- no matter how easy you think your self defence scenario is going to be, the reality is going to be far, far messier and more expensive. Thus, avoid getting into one willingly.
2- if it is serious enough to call the cavalry, wait for the damn cavalry to arrive
3- don’t exacerbate a situation by trying to play cop. Defending you and yours is a good thing, being a good witness is a good thing, but Karens On Patrol isn’t.
This entire case is another example that reinforces my belief that I will never defend my neighborhood or neighbors, not even if a machete wielding maniac with a hockey mask is running down the street covered in blood. My neighbors are more likely to join the social media mobs demanding my head than they are to contribute to my legal defense fund.
The most I will do is supply surveillance video to the cops if they ask me for it. I won’t even call the cops and offer video, nor will I call to report a crime unless I witness unambiguous criminal acts, lest I be accused of bigotry for calling on someone who is a part of the protected class du jour.
After all, it’s Self Defense, not Neighborhood Defense.
Consider also that we don’t know the full story. Bloody dude with machete and mask? Could be someone playing a prank. Skeevy biker dudes hauling a screaming woman away? Could be undercover cops arresting a hooker.
I remember the early days of St Trayvon, the 12 year old cherub mercilessly gunned down by a guy with an awfully Jewish name just for buying skittles for his brother. Our side was pretty quick to the condemnation party on that one, for those who weren’t there.
I learned a lot about what to look for in a news story before passing judgment on the villain-as-determined-by-the-media from that experience.
It doesn’t look good, I’ll say that. The media might even have the situation they *thought* they had back then. Maybe not. I have no idea, and neither do you.
Yes, you.
The fact that jumping into a truck to chase down someone who’s not an active threat is a stupid act- that’s pretty obvious. Chasing miscreants is a good way to turn a good self defense situation into a bad one.
Now, while this may yet be proved to be legal, it’s going to be super hard and super expensive to do so.
The most charitable comment I can make regarding the acts of the now defendants, assuming they are telling the truth; i.e.that Mr. Arbery was in fact a reasonable suspect for a crime and they were attempting to make a citizen’s arrest, as they claim – is that the now-defendants were incredibly stupid.
If you really think he’s a legit suspect in a crime, keep him under observation and call the cops. Duh. Doing your own “citizen’s arrest” in those circumstances is just asking for trouble. Stupid.
I’ll wait for further facts to come in to reach any further judgments.