Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I’m tryna figure out how that poster knows so much about Ahmaud Arbery. I didn’t know that an arrest is the totality of a man’s life.
But these same people never cared about George Zimmerman’s extensive police record.
You are absolutely right about that, my friend. Zimmerman has a long history of anger issues and very questionable decision making.
I don't think anyone believes that Arbery was a saint. I think most of us are saying that after being chased by 2 vehicles and confronted by men carrying guns that Arbery was justified in both being afraid for his life and maybe being very angry with such treatment. Anger and Fear seldom result in rational thinking. Most of us agree that the actions of the McMichaels are the root cause for the shooting.
A minor trespass should not result in 2 vehicles chasing you. It should not result in 2 men confronting you with guns drawn. Not in any sane world anyway. especially since we know for a fact that many people trespassed on that job sight including white people. Only 1 person received the posse treatment.
It always amazes me, especially after all the crap that hit soldiers sending pictures and videos home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Minor crimes can be magnified by a stupid video. How many criminals have been caught after posting on Facebook?
You Know I honestly don't believe that the McMichaels are evil people. Stupid? Certainly. Over zealous? Absolutely. Cold blooded murderers? Not a chance.
AS I have said. I grew up in a redneck clan in a redneck town. Most rednecks are good people. They will do anything for a friend or neighbor, even a stranger in need. You have a smaller percentage that are just mean thru and thru. The McMichaels don't strike me as such.
They involved themselves. Chances are a lot of talking up what they could do happened before the event. Now their honor is on the line. Their pride. They bragged how they could handle it. I have Seen it a lot of times.
Arbery? No I don't think he was a saint or a guy who found the god of fitness or was jogging for Jesus. I didn't know him and although I have a black son, I can't speak to the mentality of the black community. Some things about Arbery are off to me. LOL That said I feel that way about most of the Swedes that I meet.
So many really bad decisions that day by all. Arbery, could have and should have called 911 himself. He could have walked up to a house, knocked and asked for help. Maybe he really really was afraid for his life? If he was he wouldn't be alone. Being chased by 2 vehicles and 3 men, 2 of which are armed. Fear seldom makes us more rational.
It gives the excuse makers something to feel good about. That they are standing up against racism when it's just an act. As if events like this are the problem or even a problem. What happened is insignificant but the excuse makers need something to distract from the fact that blacks are dying at a much higher rate than others and that most of those deaths are caused by other blacks. Pointing out facts like that is considered racist by the excuse makers.
This is a tragedy all around. Ahmaud Arbery, a young man with promise who will never live his life. The grief of a mother losing her child. A father whose reckless and foolish actions lead to his son's murder indictment.
That being said, I have an alternative take after reading so many posts (just another idea that might be unlikely but not impossible.)
First, by the time someone jumps in a truck to confront a stranger, they've worked up some steam. Some years ago, when I was nosing around certain neighborhoods checking out bank-owned properties, on occasion men in vehicles rudely questioned why I was there. To the recipient (me) it was unpleasant, even though I'm sure the men felt they were justifiably guarding their homes against a stranger.
So we can assume the McMichaels weren't nice. And maybe Arbery felt like I did, bad, wronged, and insulted. And every time he wheels away, they follow and shout 'blankety blank what are you doing here' at him and they are rude and angry and very insulting and he forgets to see their side, that they don't know why he checked out the construction site.
Finally, at the front of the truck, Travis McMichael shouts something very bad. Arbery finally wheels in McMichael's direction intending to confront him, to shout at him, to demand he leave him (Arbery) alone.
Travis, alarmed that Arbery has wheeled towards him, raises the gun. Arbery, maybe too emotional to have thought this out, raises his hands and, surprised, in a split second makes a false move and grabs the gun barrel, and Travis shoots.
I dunno, it's possible. From the video, this would look precisely like Arbery charging. Again, it's a tragedy.
(I wouldn't shout at a man with a gun. But are things are different in an open carry state? Do people walk around routinely with guns, so others are habituated? Anyway, I'd be even less inclined to charge a man with a gun, as many have pointed out, it's such a unlikely thing for someone to do.)
Part of the confusion here, is that assault is an actual word with an actual meaning. It means to physically attack.
And then Georgia developed a charge of assault that includes threatening to assault someone but not doing it. And they even call it aggravated assault, although no assault has to occur.
It would be like charging someone with murder because they threatened you with it, or car theft because they threatened to steal your car.
(Don't even point me to the law that says Georgia will do that, because this is driving me to drink).
If you look into the laws of other states, a threatened attack is also called an "assault." It's not just Georgia.
Talk about creating fake drama where none exists, childish.
Nothing fake here, sunshine. Your posts are repulsive, which is actually being polite. This thread (this whole forum, for the most part) is incredibly toxic.
McMichael didn't threaten Arbery unless you have some audio evidence or you witnessed the full recording that has been mentioned thou the public hasn't viewed.
Chasing someone for four minutes, trying to cut and block him, then getting out with a gun to confront him, is threatening.
Just talking to my spouse a bit ago and the subject of a jogger/runner came up. We have one. A grandchild on the west coast is a runner and athlete of competitive class. She is in fact going to a nice WC University on a full ride athletic scholarship. She does cross country and field hockey. May even be an Olympic class athlete if it works out for her.
She is a tall slim and a very handsome women. And she runs multiple miles every day. She is trying to fully recover from a leg problem and is not going to stop unless she breaks.
So how does she do on Salitta? She does not jog as Arbery did. She runs. And she is reasonably secure and would not hesitate to drop into a new home to get a drink of water.
So do you folks believe the McMichaels would have gone after her? I doubt it. In fact in many places she would have organized a mob to nail the perverts who were chasing her.
So I can pull a gun on anyone walking the street and its self defense., talk about amateurish. I can't wait for the defense argument that this was self defense, that was the why the first prosecutor disappeared.
What he's trying to say is that if two men openly carrying weapons block your path and attempt to prevent your freedom of movement, they can claim self defense if you put up a fight and start winning.
That's his argument.
But interestingly, if you go to the gun forums where this incident has been discussed, the people who carry firearms and fiercely defend the stand your ground will not agree that the right to self defense shifts to the person who is losing the fight.
Notice I said "where this incident has been discussed." That's because on the gun forums, there is very little debate before the topics goes stale. They all agree very quickly that the McMichels were the instigators and aggressors (they were the ones who made the first move to engage and had the last clear chance to walk away), and that in Arbery's position they'd have also fought back.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
