Bryce Ethridge is a reporter with The Moultrie Observer.

“Better late than never.” That was a common phrase I saw on Twitter as father-son duo Greg and Travis McMichael were arrested for a crime committed more than two months ago.

On Feb. 23, the two confronted Ahmaud Arberry on the notion that Greg recognized him from a break-in surveillance video from a Satilla Shores home. Greg, a retired Waycross prosecutor, seemingly had bias as he’d investigated Arberry on a 2018 shoplifting charge.

Essentially, he “fit the description.”

Arberry was initially jogging as the father-son duo stopped their truck in his path. He’d done nothing wrong as they held guns in hand trying to “talk” to him.

A video of the situation shot by a second driver, William Bryan, who was aiding the McMichaels, showed Travis shooting Arberry three times as he fought for his life.

Yes, I said fought for his life because that’s what he was doing. Arberry had no gun(s) on him, no knife, and no other weapons, yet two men with guns provoked him.

Now, this video led to the McMichaels’ arrest — thank God for that — but they spent more than two months with no charges under the account that Georgia’s “Stand Your Ground” law protected them. 

This law states that “a person who is being threatened by another person’s use of force does not have a duty to retreat or back down before he or she can legally use force against the attacker,” according to FindLaw. Whereas other states’ “Stand Your Ground” restricts the user to certain locations like their home or car, Georgia does not.

Without the video, this is what protected Greg and Travis McMichaels. But the video eventually came out. Too bad for them.

In all seriousness though, I used to hear my college friends jokingly ask “Where the video at?” when somebody, also jokingly, called them out on their B.S. And why? Because videos are often unshakable evidence. 

With the case being sent to a grand jury, I just have to ask this: Is it so wrong for a man to fight for his life as guns were being pointed at him? If Greg was a former prosecutor, did he still have his peacekeeper status? If Greg was a former prosecutor with years of experience, how could he allow his son to take point in confronting Arberry if all they wanted to do was talk? Were they called in to apprehend Arberry by the local police department? Why was there reasonable belief that deadly force would’ve been necessary on an unarmed man? 

As Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted last Tuesday about this situation, “Georgians deserve answers.”

At the end of the day, there are a plethora of questions to be asked here, but at least they’re arrested and the process to put them away has been started.

This was a sad teaching moment for America at large and a sad moment in general as yet another black man was shot because he “fit the description.” 

Sans the video, this situation mirrors that of Trayvon Martin, an at the time 17 year old black high school student, who was shot in “self defense” by George Zimmerman.

As many trials, charges and legal actions that occurred in the aftermath of it, Zimmerman remains free and even filed a $100 million lawsuit against Martin’s parents for witness fraud, perjury and obstructed justice on December 4, 2019.

A jury acquitted him of all charges in July 2013 as there were no grounds to disprove his version of the story. So, I have to wonder if there had been a video, would the outcome have changed.

And while I applaud the notion of superheroes, blatant vigilantism is 1. Illegal and 2. Hurts more than helps, especially when the go to decision is to shoot first, ask questions later.

These are cautionary tales that tell us how effective of a weapon information can be than that of guns and knives. So stay vigilant, people — and keep your cameras, not your guns, at the ready.

Bryce Ethridge is a reporter for The Moultrie Observer.