Five Years After Ahmaud Arbery’s Murder: What Has Changed, What Hasn’t, and Who’s Still Fighting?
Injustice is unrelenting, but so are those fighting for accountability and change.
It’s stressful and emotionally draining to deal with life under this regime while also remembering tragedies such as the murder of Ahmaud Arbery that still affect us today. You can help me sustain this work by becoming a paid subscriber today.
It’s been five years since Ahmaud Arbery was lynched in broad daylight.
We saw the video.
On February 23, 2020, Arbery, a 25 year old Black man, was out for a run in the community of Satilla Shores, near Brunswick, Georgia.
Three local white men indicted, convicted, and executed him on the spot for the crime of being Black in a predominantly white community.
For two months authorities did not arrest them and conspired to make the murder appear like an open-and-shut case of self-defense.
Then on May 5, 2020, a lawyer who was in contact with Arbery’s killers released a video of the killing that had been taken during the incident.
The video of Arbery’s murder came out less than two months after Breonna Taylor’s murder in Louisville, Kentucky and less than three weeks before George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The combination of those three killings—two of them with video of the evidence—led to historic racial justice uprisings in the summer of 2020.
The Injustice Is Unrelenting
Today, the same forces that nearly let his killers go free—complacency, corrupt systems, and white supremacy—are not only still with us; they are gaining ground.
Just a few weeks before the five year anniversary of Arbery’s death, a judge dismissed the case against the District Attorney who used her position to cover for the men who killed him.
The charges of violating her oath of office were not dismissed for lack of evidence, but on a technicality about wording on documents prosecutors presented in the case.
"Frankly, this is a decision I didn’t want to make,” the judge said.
Lawyers for Arbery’s parents—Wanda Cooper-Jones and Michael Arbery—released a statement.
We remain committed to seeking justice. This trial reaffirmed the systemic failures and institutional racism that not only led to Ahmaud’s murder but also sought to shield his killers from accountability.
The push to roll back civil rights protections, the crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the mainstreaming of racial resentment in politics all point to a nation pushing back against progress.
The Spirit of Justice Is Still Moving
But there are always people filled with the spirit of justice who continue the struggle for freedom and fairness.
One of them is John Richards, a Brunswick native and co-founder of A Better Glynn.
Local community members started this nonprofit organization in the wake of Arbery’s murder to make Glynn County “a community in which ALL people have the opportunity to thrive and will serve as an example for engaging rural communities to advance equity.”
John has been a friend of mine for years, and he has advocated for justice since long before I met him.
Five years later after Ahmaud Arbery’s murder, I asked John to reflect on what has changed, what hasn’t, and what true justice looks like.
Hear the words and heart from a local activists who has dedicated his time and energy to making sure that his community learns from the horrific murder of one of their own.
Interview with John Richards, Jr.
Hey, John. Introduce yourself for the folks who don’t know you.
Sure. I serve as the co-founder of A Better Glynn, a catalytic organization formed in my hometown of Brunswick, Georgia in the wake of Ahmaud Arbery's senseless murder.
Through this organization's work, the community has seen transformative change happen and we continue to develop young leaders who will seek the narrative.
I know you also serve on staff a church in Little Rock and go back and forth to your hometown frequently.
How have you been working locally to respond to the murder of Ahmaud?
Our work centers around the systems that failed Ahmaud Arbery that day. That includes city and county leadership and policies that nearly resulted in Arbery's murders walking away.
Our team has put together expungement clinics for local citizens and returning citizens to regain their right to vote. We have also helped train and educate men and women to become involved in civic leadership around the city.
That’s what I’m talking about! Local organizing, baby!
But this work isn’t easy. What progress have you made? What setbacks have there been?
We saw a serious increase in voter turnout for normally low-turnout municipal elections—it reached over 50% participation.
We successfully petitioned for (and served on a citizens committee with Civil War monument apologists) the removal of the Confederate statue. And we did so while working on a citizens committee that included Confederate monument apologists.
I also got a law school classmate of mind to commit $10,000 to fund a nationwide search for the county police chief. It yielded our first Black police chief in County's history
One unfortunate setback is related to this milestone. That police chief has since left office because of the pushback he was getting from the establishment.
We've also run up against local gatekeepers who claim to be doing the work and attempt to divert funds from our organization. Thankfully, our work is speaking for itself, and we have diversified our funding to offset that problem.
Sounds like you’ve had some wins, but the struggle is constant.
Five years later, what are your reflections on the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the significance of the tragedy half a decade on?
Arbery's murder gave an activist impulse to a community that had become apathetic.
It was a catalyst for several protests.
But activism has two components. Firefighting and fire prevention.
The firefighting is reactive. For many people, it only started five years ago in the immediate wake of the killing and tapered off after the media moved on.
Fire prevention is proactive. It is work that never ends.
Long after the cameras have left, our organization is committed to putting in the "smoke detectors" necessary to ensure nothing like this happens ever again in our community.
Five years later, we are still here. Equipping the younger generation to continue the work that we might not get to see through ourselves.
What lessons do you think the fight for justice in Brunswick holds for communities across the country struggling under a political regime and ongoing racial injustice? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
To learn more about the stories of perseverance and resilience after tragedies, read The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance.
Today I add John Richards to my prayer list in gratitude for his leadership and courage. May the Spirit of Justice continue to protect and support his work and the efforts of all who are showing us the way.
One important lesson is that we are not powerless. Trump is a malignant bully who relies on his ability to intimidate. But John Richards and his colleagues show that standing up, calling out and organizing citizens can effect change without violence. There are others like John and his fellow activists. We need to hold them up and support them - they give others hope, or at least temporary reprieve from despair.