Fatal Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery

Overview

The Fatal Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery occurred on February 23rd, 2020, when two armed white men confronted Arbery, an unarmed African-American man, whose family claim was jogging in their neighborhood. The men allege that they believed Arbery to be a burglar and shot him dead during the confrontation. The assailants, Gregory and Travis McMichael, were arrested roughly two months later and charged with murder and aggravated assault following the release of an anonymous video of the attack. News of the arrest launched a series of activist-led campaigns calling for justice for Arbery. In late November 2021, following the conclusion of the trial, the assailants were convicted of murder.

Background

On February 23rd, 2020, two men allegedly shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, whom they believed was connected to a series of burglaries in the area. Travis and Gregory McMichael, the alleged attackers, claim that two handguns were stolen from their respective properties 53 days prior on January 1st. That morning, they claim to have seen Arbery "hauling ass" past Gregory's front lawn. Gregory claimed to have recognized Arbery from the past incidents, and he and his son Travis, both carrying weapons, chased after him. William Bryan followed in a separate vehicle and recorded the incident.^[1]

Arbery's mother said that he was out jogging that morning, while the Waycross District Attorney George E. Barnhill claims that there is video evidence of Arbery "burglarizing a home immediately preceding the chase and confrontation."^[1] Mr. Barnhill recused himself from the case after "Arbery's family complained that he had a conflict of interest." Before the confrontation, Arbery allegedly entered an under-construction house, triggering the alarm and leading to a 911 call from a neighbor. The neighbor claimed, "that a black man in a white T-shirt was inside a house that was under construction and only partially closed in." The neighbor report that he was running from the scene. According to the Daily Beast,^[2] "the family contends Arbery was just looking around the area, and that he was targeted at least partly because he was black--a potent claim in a state and region that still carry the wounds of slavery, reconstruction, and segregation."

On May 7th, following the release of footage of the confrontation, Travis and Gregory McMichael were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault.

Developments

Video of Shooting

On May 5th, 2020, Shaun King tweeted video footage of the shooting. He wrote, "I am trembling with anger over what I just witnessed. CLICK AWAY if you need to. ⁣We need ALL HANDS ON DECK. This is the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery. It’s one of the worst things I’ve seen in my entire life. Squared sos Meet us now @ http://RunWithMaud.com to demand justice." The post received more than 7.2 million views, 19,000 likes and 13,000 retweets in less than one week (video shown below).

Verdict

On November 24th, 2021, Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William Bryan Jr. were convicted of murdering Arbery.^[16] Travis, who shot and killed Arbery, was found guilty on all nine counts, including one count of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony. Gregory was found guilty of eight counts, and Bryan Jr. of six. The trio face life in prison.

Online Reactions

On April 3rd, 2020, Facebook user John C. Richard Jr posted the earliest known post on the platform about the incident, performing a Facebook Live Q & A. The post received than 5,600 views, 390 shares and 165 reactions in less than two months (shown below).

The following day, the Facebook^[3] group "I Run With Maud" launched. They write, "This page was created to help bring awareness on the tragic killing of the innocent Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased and gunned down on February 23rd, 2020 by Travis and Greg McMichael who sought to take the law into their own hands."

Over the next month, the interest in the incident grew in interest online. On April 23rd, 2020, "Twitter user @Lizlatham97 tweeted,^[5] "On Feb 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was murdered in the streets of Brunswick, GA by a man and son duo who HUNTED him down. Literally hunted him down. Because they saw him running down their street. The street that this man has run several times for a workout." The tweet received more than 19,000 likes and 17,000 retweets in less than one month (shown below, left).

On April 25th, 2020, Instagram ^[4] user @blackbusinessgoalz posted an image of Arbery and called on their community for action. The post received more than 18,000 likes in less than one month (shown below, right).

Following the shooting, several prominent public figures began responding to the incident. Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted,^[6] "The video is clear: Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood. My heart goes out to his family, who deserve justice and deserve it now. It is time for a swift, full, and transparent investigation into his murder." The tweet received more than 91,000 likes and 23,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below, left).

The following day, actor Michael B. Jordan posted a photograph of Arbery on Instagram.^[7] He wrote, "I’m sick to my stomach and could barely watch the video. Another one of our future kings and leaders was murdered!!! To the family and friends of Ahmaud my thoughts and prayers are with you. Just because you may not experience racism, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist and if you don’t think anything is wrong with this video or try to defend this in any way, you are a part of the problem." The post received more than 1.3 million views (shown below, right).

The incident inspired several threads on Reddit. On May 8th, Redditor^[8] No___ImRight posted about the arrest in the /r/news subreddit. The post received more than 127,000 points (92% upvoted) and 13,000 comments in less than 24 hours. Several other threads about the shooting received more than 40,000 points.^[9][10] A post in the /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit received more than 9,000 points (89% upvoted) and 1,700 comments in less than one week.^[11]

Media Coverage

Several news outlets covered the shooting, including The New York Times,^[1] The Daily Beast,^[2] ABC,^[12] The Washington Post^[13] and more.

Certain right-wing figures online have been making false claims on the intentions of Ahmaud Arbery and what he was doing^[14]. Reporter Jack Posobiec tweeted out a video containing a news report showing a video of Ahmaud Arbery entering a construction site^[15].

Search Interest

External References