“It's not the gun you should be scared of—it's the crazy man with the gun”
Even during quarantine and everything that is going on around the world, there are still horrible things that are happening and people just don’t know it. Three days ago, a father and a son were arrested for being linked to the murder of 25 year old Ahmaud Arbery. Gregory and Travis McMichael allegedly shot the 25 year old because they thought that he had stolen something from houses and from a construction site that he went into. Even though the arrest happened three days ago, the shooting was done 74 days before the arrest, which got a lot of people talking.
The course theme that is linked to this story is how individualism can be said to have liberated people but also be criticized as alienating. This story is an extreme version of this due to the amount of prejudice and violence and many people thought that in modern time, this stuff should not be happening, but no matter what, there will always be people that hold their own views even if the people around them don’t.
Questions
1. Do you think that racism played a key role in this shooting?
2. Should laws be changed and adapted due to them saying that it was in self defense?
To answer the first question I don't think that there is enough information given to say for sure the the two people had racist intentions, but it could be very possible given the circumstances. The self defense law is there to help out rue victims and not help people get away with murder, so changing those laws could have a negative affect on the ones who need it.
ReplyDelete1. Do you think that racism played a key role in this shooting?
ReplyDeleteI understand how it may be perceived as racist due to the fact the victim was African American, and the murders were white. However, McMichael has been reported as a former police officer, and I understand how an old investigator may want to catch a suspect. However, since he is no longer a cop, it is not his duty to hand someone in, nonetheless report a suspect with no reliable evidence pointing Arbery towards the robberies. McMichaels had investigated Arbery because he allegedly brang a gun to a high school basketball game, yet "any reference to "alleged conduct from high school or shoplifting is absurd and has nothing to do with his murder," said Lee Merritt, the family attorney. So, going off of what Kyle F had stated, it's hard to say if the McMichaels had racist intentions.
ReplyDeleteI do think that there will end up being some amendments and clarifications, but not a repeal, of the self defense law in Georgia, as the interpretation of this law ultimately played a significant role in this shooting. Personally, I believe that the perpetrators, regardless if they acted out of self defense or as a result of racial profiling, should receive some sort of punishment (even lesser if proven acted out of self defense), as they ultimately took a man's life, and denied him the right to be put through the justice system. Similar to what Beth said, it is not one's place to play judge, jury, and executioner, as it goes against the societal contract to leave it to the people and the system that society has deemed fit to carry out.
Should laws be changed and adapted due to them saying that it was in self defense?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I don't think that actual laws should be changed. The situation is always different and things could happen. There are obvious rules to self defense but I don't think it needs an alter of laws.