BRODIN_21APR23 (DO NOT DELETE) 5/1/23 3:21 PM
2023] THE LEGACY OF TRAYVON MARTIN 621
words of one), and shot him to death.
187
At least one of the White attackers
yelled racist slurs during the pursuit.
188
The three represent what we might call unaffiliated vigilantes.
We know what happened only because Bryan recorded the events on his
cell phone.
189
The trio told a very different story at the time, shifting the blame
to Arbery, who they claimed attacked them.
190
Their version was initially
accepted by the authorities.
191
The senior McMichael was a former police
officer and retired investigator in the district attorney’s office.
192
Only when the
video was released months later were the three finally charged.
193
Public
pressure brought a nine-count indictment for murder, and later federal hate
crime charges.
194
As with George Zimmerman, the killers claimed the victim
attacked them and they acted in self-defense.
195
Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law dates (not coincidentally) to the year of the
Emancipation Proclamation.
196
The original prosecutor on the case concluded
that the men acted within their rights to “arrest” the unarmed man, with force,
Arrest, Not Stand Your Ground: A Reply to Joseph Blocher, Samuel W. Buell, Jacob D. Charles, and
Darrell A.H. Miller, Pointing Guns, 99 TEX. L. REV. 1173 (2021), 100 TEX. L. REV. ONLINE 1, 7–10
(2021).
187. Emily Crane, Ahmaud Arbery was “Trapped Like a Rat” Before Being Shot Dead: Police
Testimony, N.Y. POST (Nov. 10, 2021), https://nypost.com/2021/11/10/ahmaud-arbery-trapped-like-a-
rat-before-being-killed-trial/ [https://perma.cc/7GEC-QWFJ].
188. Eliott C. McLaughlin, Ahmaud Arbery was Hit with a Truck Before He Died, and His Killer
Allegedly Used a Racial Slur, Investigator Testifies, CNN (June 4, 2020),
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/us/mcmichaels-hearing-ahmaud-arbery/index.html
[https://perma.cc/B6L3-XNHD].
189. Fausset, What We Know About the Shooting Death, supra note 186.
190. Id.
191. Dakin Andone, A Timeline of the Killing of Ahmaud Arbery and the Case Against 3 Men
Accused of His Murder, CNN (Nov. 12, 2021), https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/18/us/ahmaud-arbery-
case-timeline/index.html [https://perma.cc/YEE4-PTBR].
192. Id.; Fausset, Before Briana Taylor, supra note 186.
193. Erin Donaghue, 3 Men Indicted on Murder Charges in Killing of Ahmaud Arbery, CBS
NEWS (June 24, 2020), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ahmaud-arbrery-killing-indictments-travis-
greg-mcmichael-william-bryan/ [https://perma.cc/EX8Z-PKTW]; Andone, supra note 191.
194. Donaghue, supra note 193; Andone, supra note 191.
195. Obvious similarities to Trayvon Martin’s killing have been noted in the press. “Both the 17-
year-old Martin and the 25-year-old Arbery were accosted by self-appointed White vigilantes who shot
them at point-blank range after a scuffle. In both cases, prosecutors initially declined to pursue charges,
which were filed only after weeks of sustained pressure from the Black communities in both Deep
South states.” Killings of Arbery and Martin Tragically Similar, MINN. SPOKESMAN-RECORDER (June
4, 2020), https://spokesman-recorder.com/2020/06/04/killings-of-arbery-and-martin-tragically-
similar/ [https://perma.cc/SD2A-ZN3S].
196. Fausset, Before Briana Taylor, supra note 186. The law was the work of a slaveholding
attorney. See Flanders, Brooks, Compton & Riley, supra note 186, at 182.