{"id":22486,"date":"2020-05-07T21:11:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T04:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/?p=22486"},"modified":"2020-05-07T21:25:33","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T04:25:33","slug":"unarmed-ahmaud-arbery-killed-by-white-pursuers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/unarmed-ahmaud-arbery-killed-by-white-pursuers\/","title":{"rendered":"Unarmed Ahmaud Arbery Killed by White Pursuers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/530DiV3hmsE\" width=\"642\" height=\"361\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n<strong>Activists credit the clip with prompting a grand jury request, but many viewers found the images highly distressing<\/strong>\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"432\" src=\"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/AhmaudArbery.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22487\" srcset=\"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/AhmaudArbery.jpg 720w, https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/AhmaudArbery-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/>\n\n<figcaption>Ahmaud Arbery<\/figcaption>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nThe outrage surrounding the viral video of 25-year-old&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ahmaud-arbery\">Ahmaud Arbery<\/a>&nbsp;being shot just outside Brunswick, Georgia, is what prompted prosecutors to request a grand jury to consider charges, according to many social justice activists.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nThe footage released this week shows Arbery jogging down a narrow two-lane road. A white law enforcement officer and his son, whose truck is stopped nearby, shoot Arbery within seconds of confronting him.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cI am trembling with anger over what I just witnessed,\u201d wrote the activist Shaun King, who first posted the video on Twitter on Tuesday. He described the footage, filmed by an anonymous witness, as \u201cone of the worst things I\u2019ve seen in my entire life\u201d.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nBeyond the calls for justice, however, the manner by which King released the footage to the public has prompted a backlash. Although he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shaunking\/status\/1257696730247766017\">prefaced the release of the video<\/a>&nbsp;with a separate tweet, King drew immediate anger for sharing the graphic depiction of Arbery\u2019s death without an explicit warning of its contents.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nFollowing King\u2019s tweet, users shared their mental and psychological anguish, with some pleading with others not to share the footage. In a statement to the Guardian, King said he \u201cloathes\u201d, the videos, calling them \u201cdamaging to anyone who sees them\u201d.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cWhat I also know is that we only got movement in the Ahmaud Arbery case when I shared it,\u201d he added.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nIt is the latest such video to go viral in the US. In recent years, public anger following the deaths of Walter Scott in South Carolina in 2015, Philando Castile in Minnesota in 2016 and others has ignited debates over whether such graphic footage should be released.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nActivists have often debated balancing the pursuit of justice for the victim with preventing additional distress to the public, or undermining a victim\u2019s dignity.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cWe know what happened,\u201d tweeted the cultural critic April Reign. \u201cThose who need video evidence to believe what we know aren\u2019t going to be swayed by a video.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nFollowing the death of Alton Sterling in 2016, Reign vowed in a Washington Post column&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/posteverything\/wp\/2016\/07\/06\/why-i-will-not-share-the-video-of-alton-sterlings-death\/\">not to share viral imagery<\/a>, calling it \u201ca sick sort of voyeurism\u201d.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cIn the same way that we do not show the lethal executions of prisoners, one wonders how the media justifies depicting the death of non-imprisoned citizens at the hands of the same system,\u201d she wrote.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nMany responded in support, expressing their own shock or disappointment at being presented with the footage online, often via auto-play.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cMedia attention can be created without causing traumatic stress to millions of people who see the video,\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Eastside_Rico\/status\/1258011281308737536\">one user replied<\/a>. \u201cSeeing someone murdered is something that shouldn\u2019t be made normal to see.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nOthers agreed with King, including attorneys representing Arbery\u2019s family. They noted that Arbery was killed in February and, had it not been for the video\u2019s jarring release, prosecutors may not have pursued a grand jury.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nThe more than two-month delay fuelled further outrage over the initial reluctance of prosecutors to file charges against Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s graphic, but must be shared,\u201d wrote Benjamin Crump, attorney for Arbery\u2019s father Marcus. \u201cAs we seek justice in this modern-day lynching, everyone must know the truth!\u201d\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nArbery\u2019s family only&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MeritLaw\/status\/1257740339345002496\">learned of the video\u2019s release<\/a>&nbsp;along with the public. Crump later thanked the former vice-president Joe Biden, who tweeted that it was \u201cclear\u201d that \u201cAhmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood\u201d.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nOthers noted that people could decide not to watch the video.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nWhen footage of a graphic killing goes viral, people can be exposed to it involuntarily as online users post commentary and news updates that pops up in timelines and news feeds.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nFor some, the bombardment can merely be a nuisance. But research suggests that, for many people of color, frequent exposure to \u201cclips on the nightly news featuring unarmed African Americans being killed on the street, in a holding cell, or even in a church\u201d can have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/blog\/culturally-speaking\/201509\/the-link-between-racism-and-ptsd\">long-term mental health effects<\/a>.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nAccording to Monnica Williams, clinical psychologist and director of the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mentalhealthdisparities.org\/\">Center for Mental Health Disparities<\/a>&nbsp;at the University of Louisville, social media and viral videos can worsen trauma and stress.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a heightened sense of fear and anxiety when you feel like you can\u2019t trust the people who\u2019ve been put in charge to keep you safe,\u201d she said following Sterling\u2019s death. \u201cInstead, you see them killing people who look like you\u201d.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nWilliams noted that graphic videos can prompt \u201cvicarious trauma\u201d that exacerbates the lived experiences of racism, and effects can even be reminiscent of post-traumatic stress disorder.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cCombined with the everyday instances of racism, like micro-aggressions and discrimination, that contributes to a sense of alienation and isolation. It\u2019s race-based trauma,\u201d she said.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nIn a 2018 report published in the Lancet, researchers determined that when police officers in the US kill unarmed black people, it damages the mental health of black Americans living in the same states.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nThe study, which analyzed mental health survey data against a database of police shootings to survey respondents, suggested the trauma could result in 55 million more poor mental health days every year among black Americans.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s really about all the kinds of insidious ways that structural racism can make people sick,\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.upenn.edu\/apps\/faculty\/index.php\/g275\/p9022471\">Atheendar S Venkataramani<\/a>, a researcher, told the New York Times.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nAs in the cases of Arbery,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/06\/16\/us\/police-shooting-trial-philando-castile.html\">&nbsp;Castile<\/a>, and others, proponents of widely sharing video note that the footage can often spur action in the justice system, where it might not otherwise had been taken.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen this movie before. The prosecutors that were against arrests in the first place are only going to the Grand Jury now because they have been outed &amp; forced to do so,\u201d the author Dr Avis Jones-Deweever&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SistahScholar\/status\/1257764741029801989\">wrote on Twitter<\/a>.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThey will now intentionally undermine the process so as to result in no charges,\u201d she added.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\nCriminal charges, and subsequent convictions, for active and retired law enforcement&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/5628206\/police-shooting-trial-knowlton-garner\/\">are rare<\/a>.\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"642\" height=\"361\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JBLUSzqlobA\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"642\" height=\"361\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RtEZaDWh_20\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Activists credit the clip with prompting a grand jury request, but many viewers found the images highly distressing The outrage surrounding the viral video of 25-year-old&nbsp;Ahmaud Arbery&nbsp;being shot just outside Brunswick, Georgia, is what prompted prosecutors to request a grand &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/unarmed-ahmaud-arbery-killed-by-white-pursuers\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22486"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22491,"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486\/revisions\/22491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}