Outlines of Ahmaud Arbery case ‘eerily similar’ to infamous Trayvon Martin case, professor says

As the investigation continues into the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation searched the home Tuesday of the two men charged in his death.

Alvin Tillery, director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University, says the shooting death of Arbery, an unarmed African-American man killed by two white men in Brunswick, Georgia, shows that there is still much work to do to end the lynching culture that persists in America.

Leslie Harris, professor of history, says that there is a long history of “extra-legal policing” in these regions of the country. Both are professors in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciencesand are available to comment to the media.

Tillery is an associate professor of political science. His research in American politics focuses on American political development, racial and ethnic politics, and media and politics. He can be reached at alvin.tillery@northwestern.edu.  

Quote from Professor Tillery
“The fact that the two armed men believed that they had the right to confront Arbery even after being told by police dispatchers to stand down points to a recurrent dilemma in American states with notoriously racist histories, gun cultures grounded in toxic masculinity, and lax gun laws. Indeed, the outlines of the case are eerily similar to the infamous Trayvon Martin case from 2012. 

“What also is familiar with this case is that we are seeing how video evidence of these murders —like in the Laquan McDonald and Walter Scott cases — can force the hands of reluctant and or corrupt local authorities to eventually take the proper actions and file charges. The real looming question is: How will the racially polarized environment that exists in a place like Brunswick, Georgia, shape the ability of the state courts to provide a fair trial that delivers a verdict consistent with the most basic principles of justice for all involved.” 

Harris’ areas of research include pre-Civil War African-American labor and social history; history and historiography of U.S. slavery; urban history; Southern history; and the history of women, gender and sexuality. She is the author of several books, including “In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863” (University of Chicago, 2003).