Ahmaud Arbery would have been justified in using deadly force

Ahmaud Arbery had been jogging near his home on the outskirts of Brunswick, Georgia when he was shot and killed after being pursued by two men with guns. There’s graphic video of the incident and after some review, I’m going to break down why Arbery would have been justified to use a gun to defend himself against Travis McMichael, 34, and his father, Gregory McMichael, 64.

When we talk about using deadly force to defend yourself, the law says that we’ve committed a homicide. We’ve taken another life and, in the eyes of the law, we’re responsible for that action. The key here is that you need to show that your actions were justified. There are 3 things that have to be present to show your choice to defend yourself with deadly force and I’m going to show that Arbery would have met all 3.

Ability

In the eyes of the law, ability simply means that the opponent has power to kill or cripple, physical difference is so great it ends in death or crippling injury. In the Arbery case, he was confronted by 2 armed men. Even if the men were unarmed, you could still make the case that ability was present. The Warren Doctrine or Disparity of Force, tells us that force of numbers in a conflict can justify ability. 2 men against 1, even with a person skilled in hand to hand combat is an extremely unfair fight.

Opportunity

Opportunity means that the opponent is immediately capable of delivering that power. In this case, both attackers were withing close proximity and were armed with firearms. Making them immediately capable of delivering deadly force.  Travis McMichael and Gregory McMichael even put themselves in this position by pursuing Arbery in a vehicle while he was on foot.

Jeopardy

In this final category, the attacker has to clearly show his intent to attack by either words or direct threat to harm. This one seems fairly clear by the video. 2 openly armed men are pursuing Arbery in a vehicle. When he gets close, one gets out of the vehicle with a shotgun and tells Arbery to freeze and aggressively approaches him. Arbery even tries to veer away to avoid the men until the scuffle begins and Arbery is fatally shot. It’s apparent to me that 2 armed men pursuing another and then approaching him with aggressive words show intent to do harm.

The video shows that if Arbery had been carrying a firearm for self-defense and had used that firearm, I believe he would have been justified. The case for self-defense would have met all 3 categories and would have been constant throughout the attack. I’m not sure how I would have reacted in this case but if I was on the road and was chased by 2 armed men with clear intent to do harm, I would have defended myself and I would have been justified to do so.