Marcus Arbery, the father of Ahmaud Arbery, spoke to the press after the guilty verdict, and the “All Lives Matter” set is twisting his words.
Racist conservative outlets hi-jacked his comments and are using them out of context to support their racist slogan “All Lives Matter,” which was also hi-jacked. Marcus Arbery spoke on the verdict, God and humankind when he used three little words conservatives pounced on and immediately began using to promote their slogan while denouncing Black Lives Matter.
“All lives matter, not just Black children. We don’t want nobody to go threw that,” he said. “I don’t want to see no daddy watch his kid get shot down like that. It’s all our problem. So let’s keep fighting. Let’s keep doing it and making this a better place for all human beings. All human beings. Love everybody! All human beings need to be treated equally. Today is a good day.”
He also called his son’s murder a lynching.
Republicans are circulating a video where his words were changed to “not just Blacks” from “not just Black children” and capitalizing the phrase “All,” suggesting he emphasized the word over others.
Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were found guilty of murdering Arbery on Nov. 24. The three men chased Arbery in their pickup truck before confronting him with rifles and murdering him.
Gregory McMichael admitted on the stand that his son, Travis, screamed at Arbery, “Stop, or I’ll blow your f***ing head off!” McMichael added that Arbery was “was trapped like a rat.”
The three men were found guilty of murdering Arbery, and Travis McMichael was convicted of malice murder or intent to kill. They were also convicted of false imprisonment, aggravated assault and attempting to falsely imprison a person.
Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said that her son could now rest in peace. “Back in 2020, I never thought this day would come,” she said.
All three men are also facing hate crime charges by the federal government. They will serve life in prison, possibly without parole.
