Despite the convictions of three white men for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, civil rights activists are alarmed by the apparent sanctioning of vigilante justice in another case.
The 25-year-old Arbery was gunned down by Travis McMichael, along with his father Gregory McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, while jogging in their Georgia neighborhood, but the recent acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin represents a familiar pattern to Black Americans, reported Insider.
“It really is this pattern that has always existed in America being brought to the forefront,” said Ben Crump, who represented Arbery’s family. “We are now making it legitimate for lynch mobs to go out and engage in vigilantism.”
Arbery’s killers were prosecuted only after public outcry following the release of graphic video of the deadly confrontation, and activists say that’s troubling proof of a racist double standard in law enforcement.
“As grateful as I am that the jury got it right in convicting the defendants in the murder of [Arbery] , it’s troubling to realize how all three nearly got away with it,” tweeted writer Rob Gobble. “The original local prosecutor effectively aided in a coverup that only fell apart due to a leaked video.”
Organizer and activist Bree Newsome Bass warned that this or “any single headline-grabbing case” shifted the focus away from a legal system “demonstrably racist in its organization & daily operation,” and Crump agreed.
“There are two justice systems in America, one for white America and another for the rest of us, when we have to continue to fight to have equal justice for all citizens of the United States of America,” Crump said.
