Comments by "cchris874" (@cchris874) on "Prosecution cross-examines Travis McMichael in Ahmaud Arbery murder trial" video.

@jamgrl38 They were rightly found guilty. But one can certainly argue the harshness of the penalties, at least regarding Bryan.
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We got both justice and injustice. -The scumbag racists went to jail = justice -felony murder = injustice, especially in regard to black defendants over the years -Life w/o parole = injustice. This wasn't even pre-meditated murder. Here's a case where racist hysteria ruled the court. These men weren't on trial for their actual crimes, but for the entire history of white Southern racism in all its hideous ugliness. I get it. Decent folk are fed up with racism, and have lost all patience. But that's precisely where due process and reasonable doubt should be put to the test. As Noam Chomsky said in another context, freedom of speech doesn't mean very much unless we uphold it when we revile what's being said. Similarly here, when we are filled with loathing and disgust, the principles of justice need to be upheld, not to be casually dispensed with, as they were here.
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@jamgrl38 Had Arbery been white, and Bryan black, would you still feel the same way?
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@jamgrl38 It shouldn't. But in this case, I believe it did, resulting in sentences out of proportion to the crime. In principle would you give someone a life sentence when they had no intent to kill, and did not himself kill, and honestly (though stupidly) assumed his neighbor had a valid reason to chase someone? I always thought life sentences should be reserved for worst case crimes. No?
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@jamgrl38 No, you cannot make assumptions when there's reasonable doubt. There's no solid proof Bryan was trying to kill Arbery. He may have ended up knocking him down, which is a very serious offense. But not a provable intent to kill. Why would he? What evidence did he have to believe Arbery deserved to be killed? You cannot elevate your assumptions to proof, especially one as questionable as that.
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