Blog #1 “What is he doing wrong?”

On a Sunday afternoon, February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery jogged through a neighborhood in Glynn County, Georgia.  He had jogged in the neighborhood before.

But this jog ended with a retired police investigator, Greg McMichaels, and his son Travis, arming themselves and jumping into their pickup truck to pursue Arbery.  Travis McMichaels shot Arbery in the street and killed him.

For nearly three months, police, prosecutors, and press DID NOTHING.  Only when a video of the killing surfaced on social media was national attention focused on the case and the inaction of the local authorities. 

Another man in the Satilla Shores neighborhood where the killing took place, phoned 911 about Arbery jogging.  After a few seconds, the caller said, obviously excited: “He’s running now” referring to Arbery.  The 911 operator asked: “What is he doing?”  Then, she asked: “I just need to know what he was doing wrong.”

That is the question we are all left with.  Your answer to that question says as much about you as it does about the people involved.   

Every citizen needs to listen to “Buried Truths,” the podcast about the murder of Ahmaud Arbery based on an investigation conducted by members of Emory University.

“I just need to know what he was doing wrong.”