No matter what transpired prior to the incident, you cannot hunt someone down the way they did. Even if their intent was to restrain him until police got there, their actions resulted in his death. I can’t see any way this is justified. That being said, he was accused of breaking and entering that same day. I’d like to see his criminal record, because that will say a lot about his character. If you lead a life of crime, your chances of being caught up in something like this increase exponentially. If it turns out that he was an innocent guy out for a jog, this is heartbreaking. If it turns out he’s a career criminal and ran into the wrong dudes, though not justified, wouldn’t have happened had he made better life decisions.
Because Ahmaud ran at the shooter from the other side of the truck, which is clear from the video, I do not liken that to the McMichaels hunting down anyone. That said, when I first saw the initial video that was released, I was of a similar mindset on the level of wrongness on the McMichaels' part. Indeed, based on the first video alone, it was clear to me that the McMichaels had illegally detained Ahmaud with armed force (or attempted to do so). Under such a circumstance, a person being illegally detained or threatened with a deadly weapon has every right to use appropriate force to defend himself. Thus, whether or not it was wise of Ahmaud to do so, the law would have been on his side and it would be ridiculous for the McMichaels to try to claim self defense themselves when they were the ones who would have been committig a felony.
However, given the second video (
) that shows Ahmaud entering into a home and someone observing him entering into this home (again, its clear that he was not just out jogging, and his family's attorney's statement that he took a 3 minute stop outside of a home is laughable as its clear that he wasn't just outside of the home), the narrative and legality of the detention
could change if it is shown that the McMichaels knew about the incident. Under Georgia's civilian arrest statute, a citizen may conduct an arrest if s/he has witnessed a crime or otherwise has immediate knowledge that a crime was committed. Even though its clear that Ahmaud did not steal anything from the house (nothing was found on his person) that wouldn't be the end of the discussion as things would turn to whether it would be reasonable for someone to believe that he was burglarizing the home (such as a neighbor being told to watch over the house and to not expect work on the house on a certain day, etc.). Then there is the issue of trespass, which is clear that Ahmaud was doing when he entered into that home.
Note, I write that the above
could change the narrative.
Could because if there is zero evidence that the McMichaels knew about Ahmaud going into the house or that he was trespassing, then such a point is legally moot. If the McMichaels knew nothing of Ahmaud's recent actions then they had no legal basis to stop him, with a gun or otherwise.
All of this is to say that there are likely things that still haven't been released via evidence. Thus, I won't form a full opinion/pass judgment on the situation until that has happened.
