The Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery

On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was pursued while running near Brunswick, GA. The 25-year-old was fatally shot by Travis McMichel, who was chasing him in a pickup truck with his father, Gregory McMichael. Another vehicle, followed the McMichels, with William Bryan inside. (the graphic video can be seen here)

The Glynn County Police Department responded to the shooting, and was advised by the Brunswick District Attorney not to make any arrests. The District Attorney's office would later deny that they told the police that recommendation. The case ended up being transferred through four different prosecutors offices, with all not pursuing charges in the shooting. 

On May 5, 2020, a video of the shooting went viral online. It wasn't long after that District Attorney, Tom Durden informed that a grand jury would ultimately decide whether charges would be brought on the case. It was then that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) at the bequest of Governor Brian Kemp began investigating.

Two days later, on May 7th, the GBI arrested the McMichaels and later, William "Robbie" Bryan on May 21st. The trio was charged with felony murder and other crimes. Additional evidence was presented by the prosecutor on June 4th to support the murder charges on the men. Included in the evidence was a statement to the GBI by Bryan that Travis McMichel said, "f--king n-----r" as Ahmaud Arbery laid on the ground dying. The grand jury indicted all three of the men on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggrevated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

On April 28, 2021, the three men were all indicted on federal charges of one count each of the interference with rights, which is a hate crime as well attempted kidnapping. Both Travis and Gregory McMichaels were also charged with separate counts of using firearms during the crime of violence.

Jury selection began on October 18th, 2021 for the case. 600 people were summoned to jury duty on that date, yet only 283 people actually showed up according to the Clerk of Superior Court for Glynn County, Ron Adams. The next day, October 19th, another 400 potential  jurors were summoned, and only half that number showed up. The attorneys and judge for the case are working to narrow down the number of possible jurors to 64, before narrowing that number down to the final 12 jurors with 4 alternates.

The jury selection process is proving to be difficult, as many potential jurors have reservations about serving and have already formed strong opinions on the case. It's definitely not going to be easy to seat a jury with how polarizing this case has been in the community. 

The actual trial is set to begin November 5th. 

 

What are your thoughts on the Ahamud Arbery shooting? 

Will you be following the trial next year?

Guns and Hollywood

 The fatal shooting last Thursday on the set of actor, Alec Baldwin's movie, Rust has brought up questions about guns and Hollywood. Specifically, is there a need for actual, real guns on set? 

On October 21st, production was underway on location in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the western film, and actor Alec Baldwin was handed what he thought was a "cold gun." A "cold gun" is a term used in Hollywood when a firearm being worked with on set is not loaded with live ammunition. Sadly, this was not the case and the weapon was in fact loaded. When Baldwin pulled the trigger, it went off resulting in the death of Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and injuring director, Joel Souza. An investigation is now underway by both law enforcement as well as the production company to find out what went wrong.

Accidents like this raise the question of if live guns should still be permitted on set. With advancements in technology regarding effects and CGI, there is much that can be accomplished in post-production. While it may add to a project's budget and time, it removes risks of injury and death during filming. 

This isn't of course the only gun-related accident on a set. Back in March 1993, actor Brandon Lee was killed when he was shot in the abdomen while filming a scene for the movie, The Crow. A makeshift bullet was erroneously left in a gun used from a previous scene, which then struck Lee. He later died after six hours of surgery. And, in 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum fatally shot himself in the head with a gun loaded with blanks on the set of the TV series, Cover Up.

That's not to mention a number of other accidents on movie and TV sets through the years, including one of the worst in history during the filming of The Twilight Zone movie. A helicopter crash killed actor Vic Morrow and two child actors in 1982 after explosions staged during the scene damaged the copters rotor. The aircraft fell into the water, decapitating Morrow and the two children instantly. Director John Landis and four others were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter and federal agencies enacted new rules for filming with helicopters.

With all the accidents, especially deaths occurring on sets of movies and television shows, there needs to be more safety measures in effect. Just like the new rules after the fatal Twilight Zone helicopter disaster, the use of firearms needs to be changed. No one should lose their life on while filming something that is meant for entertainment.

What do you think?

Are new safety measures needed for the use of firearms on set? Should live weapons be banned from being used during filming?

Gabby Petito case - Where do we go from here?

I've been following the Gabby Petito case since hearing about her disappearance on September 11th. It's a case that has garnered attention across the world. She was a young, 22-year-old girl, with so much life ahead of her as she set off on July 2nd with her fiance Brian Laundrie to embark on a cross-country van trip. She was planning on documenting the journey on her YouTube Channel, Nomadic Statik. 

The couple had a seemingly picture-perfect life together, as documented on their Instagram pages. Life wasn't as great as it appeared though, and things began to fall apart during a traffic stop on August 12th in Moab, Utah. Police received calls that the duo were fighting, and that Brian hit Gabby.

 

Police spoke with the couple for over an hour, as recorded by body cam footage that would later be released to the public. Gabby was visibly distraught and constantly apologizing for everything, while Brian seemed to make light of the domestic situation to officers. The situation concluded with them being separated for the evening, and a finding that Gabby was the aggressor. 

 After the domestic situation in Moab, Brian flies back home to Florida on August 17th. He stays with his parents through August 23rd, as he was supposedly cleaning out and closing the couple's storage unit to save money. During this time, Gabby was alone back in Utah. 

The last known sighting of the couple seems to be on August 27th at the Merry Piglet restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A women named Nina Angelo witnessed Brian yelling at the hostess, while Gabby was crying and apologizing. 

On September 1st, Brian Laundrie returned home to North Port alone with the van. No Gabby, just Brian and the van the two had been traveling in together. This is where things get weird and information gets limited and possibly sketchy.

Somewhere between the time Brian comes back to Florida, and September 11th, Gabby's family tries getting in contact with Chris and Roberta Laundrie, Brian's parents about the whereabouts of their daughter and Brian. Their calls and text messages go unanswered. There is a visit to the AT&T store to purchase a new phone during this time frame, as well as a Laundrie family camping trip to Fort deSoto Park. Cassie Laundrie, Brian's sister and her family also join in on the Fort deSoto trip.

On September 11th, Gabby's parents call the Suffolk County Police in New York at 6:55pm to report their daughter missing. Police in Florida are informed of the report, and North Port officers arrive at the Laundrie residence later that evening. When they attempt to speak to Chris and Roberta Laundrie, they are handed the phone number to their lawyer, refusing to say a word. The van was in the Laundries driveway, so it was taken in by law enforcement for evidence processing. It was then that the search for the missing Gabby Petito was on.

Four days later, on September 15th, Brian Laundrie was officially named a person of interest in Gabby's disappearance. He had yet to make himself available to investigators for an interview, or be helpful in any way. The Laundrie family had decided to remain silent. 

Meanwhile, Gabby's family was desperate for any information about the whereabouts of their daughter. On September 16th, Joe Petito, Gabby's biological father pleaded during a press conference for his daughter's safe return and for Brian to speak up. 

 

On September 17th, the Laundrie family attorney reported Brian Laundrie missing to authorities. Law Enforcement was told that he left home on September 14th (later changed to the 13th) for a walk at the Carlton Reserve. He took the family mustang as well as a backpack and never returned. 

A massive search was now underway for both Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie. the FBI and officials searching Wyoming for Petito, and the North Port Police now searching Carlton Reserve for Laundrie.

After a tip from YouTuber, Red White & Bethune after discovering video of the missing couple's van on their Go Pro footage from August 27th, authorities were aided in their discovery of the body of Gabby Petito. Her remains were found a short distance from where the van was parked as seen in the aforementioned video.

Two days later, the Teton County Coroner, Dr Brent Blue released his initial determination of Gabby Petito's death being a homicide.

During this time, Brian Laundrie remained missing, and the search for him continued in the Carlton Reserve. FBI swarmed the Laundrie family home to collect evidence, and towed the Mustang back to their garage to be searched. 

Authorities searched the Carlton Reserve for weeks, and Dog the Bounty Hunter joined the search for Brian Laundrie, taking his investigation out to Fort deSoto Park. There were many leads all over to law enforcement, Dog, as well as to John Walsh's confidental line, but nothing was leading to much.

FBI put out a federal arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie on September 22nd for intent to defraud after using Gabby's debit card after her death. This made Brian more than a person of interest, allowing authorities to take him into custody once they located him.

We finally learned on October 12th, the cause of death in the homicide of Gabby Petito. The Teton County Coroner stated she was killed by manual strangulation/throttling. Further, she had been deceased for 3-4 weeks by the time her body was discovered back on September 19th. 

Eight days later, on October 20th, Chris & Roberta Laundrie decided they wanted to go out to the Carlton Reserve to search for their son, Brian. The park had just been opened the day before to the public again. It was during their short search of about 30 minutes, that Chris Laundrie found a dry bag and notebook as well as other articles belonging to his son. Soon after, partial human remains were discovered nearby, and the medical examiner was called to the scene.

On October 21st, the Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino released a statement informing that the remains found the previous day in the Carlton Reserve were in fact that of Brian Laundrie. We later learned that the medical examiner used dental records to make the identification.

 

So... where do we go from here? For those following this case, there are many questions that remain.

What happened to Gabby in late August? I believe that Brian killed her, but why? Was it out of a fit of rage? Did they have an argument that went too far? 

When Brian returned home on September 1st, what did he tell his parents about Gabby? Did he make up a story about them breaking up? Did he tell them he killed her? 

Was that family camping trip on September 6th through 7th a sort of good-bye? Was there not talk of Gabby being missing? 

What do his parents and his sister know?

When did Brian die? I suspect that he somehow committed suicide, making this another sad murder/suicide "love story." Did he do it within the first few days of being gone? Considering the authorities have only found bones, he must have been dead for some time. 

We can only hope that Brian's notebook has some answers, and that his parents, Chris and Roberta will come forward and say what they do know. Only time will tell....