Courts

A Verdict To Be Thankful For

What?! We can’t just gun down black men in broad daylight anymore? I thought this was America?

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(Photo by Kerem Yucel / AFP) (Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)

This is one of those strange moments to be an abolitionist.

I know that I’m not the only person that let loose a big sigh of relief when they heard about the Arbery verdict. And despite there being a video of the lynching, I doubt that this was an easy case for the prosecution. From the defendants not being charged for months after the slaying, a jury makeup that makes the cast of Scrubs look like it was ran on BET, to petty ad homs about Mr. Arbery’s feet in front of his mourning mother, this trial has been taxing.

And I’m sure Travis McMichael (convicted of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment, and lone count of criminal attempt to commit a felony), Greg McMichael (acquitted of malice murder, but guilty of four counts of felony murder, two of aggravated assault, one of false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit a felony), and Roddie Bryan Jr. (also not guilty of malice murder, but convicted of guilty of three counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony), will have a long time to think about the trial and the man they robbed of his life because he was inquisitive on a run.

At some point I’m sure we will reflect on this and think about the state’s unique requirements for malice murder if closing someone in with two cars, shooting with a shotgun and calling them a nigger afterward didn’t suffice, or the legal shakiness of felony murder, but for right now, let’s appreciate that these lynchers didn’t get away like so many lynchers before them did.

Rest In Peace Ahmaud.

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. Before that, he wrote columns for an online magazine named The Muse Collaborative under the pen name Knehmo. He endured the great state of Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

 

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