“With liberty and justice for all.” That is one of the key foundations that America was founded upon. Yet somehow, “justice for all” does not really mean “all.” It has been seen countless times throughout history and in modern day America as well. Many people go unpunished for the crimes that they commit, especially when the crime is commit against a person of color.
In 2013, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi formed the Black Lives Matter Network. The Black Lives Matter Network is an online platform that exists to provide activists with a shared set of principles and goals. This is a network that is fighting for the perseverance of the lives of black people across America. This network was founded in response to the police killings and police brutality that the black community was facing in the country. Since 2013, this online network has grown exponentially and has made an impact in countries all across the globe.
Black Lives Matter organizes peaceful protests which follow tragedies in the black community, specifically the murders of unarmed men and women. One of the cases that the network organized a multitude of protests for was the case of Ahmaud Arbery. The case of Ahmaud Arbery is one of the most heartbreaking cases in the Black Lives Matter Movement. Arbery was a twenty five year old black man from Georgia, going on a jog in his own neighborhood when he was gunned down by three white men. Arbery was both unarmed and in his own neighborhood when he was brutally murdered simply for the color of his skin.
On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery went on a jog in a neighborhood in Satilla Shores, Georgia when three white males pursued him in a pickup truck: Travis and his father Gregory McMichael, while William Bryan, who was in another vehicle recorded the entire pursuit and subsequent shooting on his cell phone.
The men chased down Arbery, who attempted to deescalate the situation at hand, for several minutes, then they falsely imprisoned him. This is when Travis McMichael got out of the truck and assaulted Arbery with a shotgun, shooting him three times while Arbery, who was unarmed, attempted to defend himself.
Law enforcement officers arrived on the scene shortly after, and yet no arrests were made for over two months. The case of Ahmaud Arbery sparked anger across the country, because law enforcement officers did nothing to gain justice for Ahmaud Arbery and his family, even though there was a multitude of evidence stacked against the three men who commit this crime. The Black Lives Matter campaign picked up all across the country and citizens organized many protests to obtain and arrest the suspects of the shooting.
Law enforcement were advised not to make any arrests by the office of the district attorney. This continued until Bryan submit the video of the killing to a local radio station, at the order of Gregory McMichael. The video was published on May 5, 2020, and soon after went viral on both YouTube and Twitter. The Black Lives Matter network forced the hands of law enforcement to arrest the McMichaels on May 7, and then soon after William Bryan on May 21–charging them with felony murder, as well as other crimes.
When questioned, the two suspects stated that they believed Arbery to be a suspect in a string of burglaries that were occurring in the neighborhood and that they also believed him to be armed. These two men were not any form of law enforcement, and suspected Arbery to be an intruder solely based on racial profiling and the color of his skin.
Arbery is only one of hundreds of black men in America that have been profiled based on race, and unfortunately, the outcome for Arbery was the ending to his life. Just recently in the news, the case for the men that shot and killed him went to trial. The case was very big in the media and caught the attention of millions of Americans around the country.
The trial went on for weeks and had compelling and heartfelt arguments from the Arbery family, and of course many people in the media had a lot to say about the matter as well.
The judge for the trial denied a plea deal bargain that the attorneys had offered, which would let the three men on trial off for the federal hate crime charge. This is another win for the Black Lives Matter campaign because many times, these merciless killings are just swept under the rug.
On June 24, 2020, a grand jury indicted the three men on the charges of malice murder, felony murder, and other crimes. The trial began in November of 2021, and all three men were convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Travis McMichael was further convicted of malice murder.
On January 7, 2022, the McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole plus 20 years, with Bryan sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Now that the Arbery case is over, there is still so much to do. This is a small win in a large pool of injustices that will not be fixed unless we act in a way that will fix it. There are still so many black men, women, and children who have not gotten justice for their deaths. There are still so many police officers that kept their badges and walked free of any charges and without a trial as well. There will not be justice until there is justice for all.
If we want to see a change, then we cannot stop at Ahmaud Arbery. We need to continue to fight for the hundreds of other black men, women, and children who were brutally murdered while they were unarmed and rendered harmless. The hundreds of black men, women, and children who were murdered simply because the color of their skin. We can no longer sit idly by and watch as injustices occur. In order to see action, we need to take action.
Recent Comments