Far-Right Extremism
The Murder of Ahmaud Arbery Intersects With Far-Right Extremism
On February 22, 2022, three white men were convicted of federal hate crimes against Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man that was gunned down while jogging down a street in Glynn County, Georgia on February 23, 2020 (McCausland). Their names were Travis McMichael (son), Greg McMichael (father), and William Bryan (neighbour). Their convictions were a long time coming: the men were not arrested until two months after the shooting, when a leaked video of the murder finally forced the Georgia police to act (Bynum). Instead of admitting guilt or showing remorse, Travis McMichael, the man who fired the 12-guage shotgun three times at Arbery at close range, defiantly stated that “the shooting wouldn't have happened had Arbery followed his commands to stop running” (Bynum).
Similar to other Black men and women that were gunned down during the Covid-19 pandemic, this case caused a public outcry throughout America and the world. To many, this was an open and shut case: white men chased down a Black man, murdered him, and let him die in the street while they stood watching; these men were guilty.
But there is another side to this case that is much darker and feeds into the very dynamics that created this murder to begin with: a far-right ideology that not only perpetuates white supremacy, but revolts at the thought of understanding the concepts of racism or racialization. Cynthia Miller-Idriss writes that “exclusionary and dehumanizing beliefs are at the core of far-right ideologies through ideas about superiority and inferiority according to race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, or sexuality. . . white supremacism is especially key to understanding the American far right.” One example of such a supremacist ideology can be found on the Legal Insurrection website, where Andrew Branca, a lawyer for the site, followed the trial of these three men that tracked, chased down, and ultimately murdered Ahmaud Arbery, posting his far-right ideology as legal commentary on the case.
There are two media articles on the Legal Insurrection website that acutely display this destructive far-right ideology. On October 17, 2021, the day before the murder trial commenced, Branca posted “Ahmaud Arbery Case: Seven Facts the Jury Will (Probably) Never Hear” – unapologetically placing the blame on Arbery for his own death. Then, on November 17, 2021, the evening after the first day of closing arguments, Branca posted “Arbery Case Trial: Based on Closing Arguments, Not Guilty Verdicts Are a Real Possibility” – stating that “If I were asked to render a verdict today. . . I’d be obliged to acquit all three defendants of all charges.” Incredibly, the day after Branca’s second post, following only 10 hours of deliberation, a majority-white jury convicted all three men of murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal intent to commit a felony; neither of the McMichaels was offered a chance of parole (Bynum). This paper will analyze the effects of these two media articles and how far-right extremism works to propagate racism, white supremacy, white privilege, and racial profiling.
There are two key points regarding the Arbery case that must be taken into account when analyzing the media posts of the Legal Insurrection. One, Greg McMichael, who was driving the truck that chased down Arbery, had a 30-year career in local law enforcement; his influence at the local District Attorney’s office is believed to be the reason why charges were not placed until the leaked video of the shooting forced the police to act (Orecchio-Egresitz). Two, the men that chased Arbery stated that they were trying to make a legal citizen’s arrest; this form of arrest is based on a Civil war-era law deemed allowable when there are “reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion” (McKay and Allen).
Not only is this problematic because Black men are arrested for suspicion seven times more than white men (Davis), but this law was established in 1863 when Georgia was a central player in the Southern Confederacy, and many have argued it was created to enable the capture of escaped slaves (McKay and Allen). These media posts are excellent examples of what Hulko describes as intersectionality or how an individual experiences the interlocking structures of oppression (47).
Arbery did not just suffer and ultimately die from racism; he was profiled by men who view themselves as superior and seemingly have no comprehension of their white privilege. Sonia Magdalena Tascón describes this blindness to white privilege as “everyday racism,” whereby “Race as part of the calculus of force-relationships, that which organizes power relationships in various ways, is negotiated, manipulated, and performed in the everyday” (256).
The first media post, “Ahmaud Arbery Case: Seven Facts the Jury Will (Probably) Never Hear,” is an article that portrays the three white men that gunned down Ahmaud Arbery as being unfairly tried (Branca, “Ahmaud”). After displaying an intentionally-shocking picture of Travis McMichael tackling and shooting Arbery on the street, Branca states that he is going to offer seven pieces of “demonstrably true facts” that are “relevant to understanding the totality of the circumstances that led to Arbery charging Travis McMichael.” Notice that it is Arbery “charging” Travis McMichael: Arbery is responsible for his own death. Branca then lists the seven facts that should be a part of this trial but (“probably”) won’t be.
The initial three “facts” of the seven facts media post are very similar: “Arbery was a convicted thief,” “Arbery was a convicted felon,” and “Arbery was on felony probation.” These “facts” have nothing to do with whether or not these white men should be convicted, and it is what Tim Wise calls the “Pathology of Privilege” (10), where white privilege creates:
An intense anxiety, like a mental dysfunction, an emotional anxiety, and distress. If you are privileged after all, if you are the top dog, if you have all the advantage, you are constantly afraid of who’s gaining on you. You’re constantly afraid of who’s coming to take what you have. (13)
The fourth and fifth “facts” presented in this article involve Arbery being both “high” and “off his meds.” The “War Against Drugs” harkens back to the Reagan administration, which spent millions of dollars demonizing drug users and linking them to communities of color; it “institutionalized racist politics of protection that further entrenched white advantage” (Gamal 998). Branca then cites a medical evaluation revealing that Arbery had a psychiatric disorder, so when Arbery’s autopsy concluded that he had no prescription meds in his body, Branca determines that Arbery could not control his delusions to “rob, steal, and hurt people, leading him into combative behaviour.” The Drug Policy Alliance states that "Black people and Native Americans are more likely to be killed by law enforcement than other racial or ethnic groups. They are often stereotyped as being violent or addicted to alcohol and other drugs" (“Race”). Not only does this media post criminalize Arbery for not using his meds to help with his mental health, but it criminalizes mental health itself. Davis writes that:
[Social] problems often are veiled by being conveniently grouped together under the category "crime" and by the automatic attribution of criminal behavior to people of color. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages.
Throughout the seven “facts,” Branca continually provides “proof” that Arbery was a criminal and somehow deserved his death. Leonardo writes that white privilege activates structural domination and that racial profiling trains U.S. police officers to immediately perceive Black people as potential criminals (148). The media post of “Seven Facts the Jury Will (Probably) Never Hear” is a glaring example of the intersectionality of oppressions; it is written by a white man that posts racist commentary on a website that promotes far-right ideologies of white supremacy, privilege, and racial profiling.
Branca wrote the second media post, “Arbery Case Trial: Based on Closing Arguments, Not Guilty Verdicts Are a Real Possibility,” one month after the first, following the first day of closing arguments from the State prosecution. He writes that the State Assistant District Attorney offered closing arguments that were “horrible” and included “gross misstatements of the law;” he describes her demeanor as “a mode of exasperation, with lots of stomping around, hand waving, shaking of her head” (“Arbery Case”). Branca strives to make the State’s case appear irrational, delusional, and preposterous while simultaneously working to make the shooting of Arbery seem rational, sane, and orderly.
In much of this post, Branca discusses the merits of Travis and Greg McMichael attempting at a citizen’s arrest of Arbery, writing, “If they were engaged in a lawful citizen’s arrest of a reasonably perceived felon, being armed while doing so would only be prudent.” In other words, Arbery had it coming. Branca then states that “Nevertheless, and especially if the dead miscreant turns out to be a racial minority or of a political faction favored by the Progressive Left, there’s an immediate hyper-politicization of the event as racist, white supremacist, or otherwise beyond the pale.” Statements like this are typical discourse of the far right, and Leonardo writes that “As long as whites ultimately feel a sense of comfort with racial analysis, they will not sympathize with the pain and discomfort they have unleashed on racial minorities for centuries” (150).
Branca cannot see the power he holds as a white man, nor can he admit such a phenomenon exists. Leonardo writes that “After all, admission does not necessarily mean ending domination; yet many whites find even this act of enunciation impossible” (149). Finally, Branca’s utter lack of understanding of his white privilege can be found when he concludes that “An innocent recreational jogger has no need to fear a police response—a previously convicted felony burglar very much does.” Branca could not be more wrong, and Black men and women are only too aware of the dangers that daily permeate their lives (Wise 15).
Regardless of what white folks like Branca argue as otherwise, Black men and women know they are much more likely to suffer at the hands of the police than white folks (Wise 2), but during Covid something seemed to shift: it was like people finally had the time to think about these things; they had the time to rally in city centres and fight for racial justice. Ahmaud Arbery was one of those defining moments of Covid 19 that stopped the world for a moment in time and pushed people to reflect on issues like racism, profiling, white supremacy, and policing.
Furthermore, every-day citizens started using their cell phones to record what they saw happening around them, especially regarding policing, and this started to change the landscape of law enforcement. But there was another side to this awakening: the more people that cared about equality and fighting racism, the more the far-right seemed to dig in their heels and resist the racial reckoning. Of course, all of this was happening with a U.S. president in power that continually stoked the fires of white supremacy and far-right extremism (PRRI).
The filming of the racially-motivated killings of men like George Floyd, Daunte Wright, and Ahmaud Arbery prompted a radical change in how white people were prosecuted for killing Black men and women, and it can be jarring for many to discover media posts like these created by the Legal Insurrection that continue to place the blame on the Black people themselves that have been murdered. While promoting white supremacy and privilege, there is a stubborn far-right ideology that refuses to come to terms with race or racism.
Works Cited
Branca, Andrew. “Ahmaud Arbery Case: Seven Facts the Jury Will (Probably) Never Hear.” Legal Insurrection, 17 Oct. 2021, legalinsurrection.com/2021/10/ahmaud-arbery-case-seven-facts-the-jury-will-probably-never-hear/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.
---. “Arbery Case Trial: Based On Closing Arguments, Not Guilty Verdicts A Real Possibility.” Legal Insurrection, 22 Nov. 2021, l legalinsurrection.com/2021/11/arbery-case-trial-based-on-closing-arguments-not-guilty-verdicts-a-real-possibility/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.
Bynum, Russ. “All 3 defendants found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery.” CTV News, 24 Nov. 2021, www.ctvnews.ca/world/all-3- defendants-found-guilty-of-murdering-ahmaud-arbery-1.5678859. Accessed 25 Feb. 2022.
Davis, Angela Y. “Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex.” ColorLines, Fall 1998, thirdworldtraveler.com/Prison_System/Masked_Racism_ADavis.html.
Gamal, Fanna. “The Racial Politics of Protection: A Critical Race Examination of Police Militarization.” California Law Review, vol. 104, no. 4, Aug. 2016, pp. 979–1008. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edshol&AN=edshol.hein.journals.calr104.33&site=eds-live.
Hulko, Wendy. “The Time-and Context-Contingent Nature of Intersectionality and Interlocking Oppression.” AFFILIA, vol. 24, no. 1, Jan. 2009, pp. 44 -55, EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edsbl&AN=RN244020906&site=eds-live.
Leonardo, Zeus. “The Color of Supremacy: Beyond the Discourse of `white Privilege’.” Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 36, no. 2, Jan. 2004, pp. 137–52. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edsbl&AN=RN146482671&site=eds-live.
Magdalena Tascón, Sonia. “Narratives of Race and Nation: Everyday Whiteness in Australia.” Social Identities, vol. 14, no. 2, Mar. 2008, pp. 253–74, EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1080/13504630801933688.
McCausland, Phil. “3 white men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery found guilty of hate crimes.” NBC News, 22 Feb. 2022, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ahmaud-arbery-trial-verdict-3-men-federal-hate-crime-trial-rcna17171. Accessed 26 Feb. 2022.
McKay, Rich, and Jonathan Allen. “Slavery-era Georgia law in focus in trial over Ahmaud Arbery's killing.” Reuters, 27 Oct. 2021, www.reuters.com/world/us/slavery-era-georgia-law-is-key-defense-argument-trial-over-ahmaud-arberys-2021-10-27/. Accessed 25 Feb. 2022.
Miller-Idriss, Cynthia. “White Supremacist Extremism and the Far Right in the U.S.” Gale, 2021, www.gale.com/intl/essays/cynthia- miller-idriss-white-supremacist-extremism-far-right-us.
Orecchio-Egresitz, Haven. “Gregory McMichael had a career in local law enforcement for over 30 years and faced suspension for a l lapse in gun training.” Insider, 8 May 2020, www.insider.com/this-is-what-we-know-about-gregory-and-travis-mcmichael- 2020-5#. Accessed 25 Feb. 2022.
PRRI Staff. “Majority of Americans Blame Trump, White Supremacy for Capitol Riot.” Public Religion Research Institute, 28 Jan. 2021, www.prri.org/research/majority-of-americans-blame-trump-white-supremacy-for-capitol-riot/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022.
“Race and the Drug War.” Drug Policy Alliance, drugpolicy.org/issues/race-and-drug-war. Accessed 26 Feb. 2022.
Wise, Tim. “The Pathology of White Privilege: Racism, White Denial and the Costs of Inequality” (video transcript). Media Education Foundation, mediaed.org/transcripts/Tim-Wise-On-White-Privilege-Transcript.pdf.