I vehemently disagree.  Vehemently.


Protecting property isn’t a reason to run a man down or shoot him, no matter how we might feel about shortcomings in our justice system.

The three men found guilty became the aggressors when they took up arms and chased Mr. Arbery down.  You cannot claim self-defense when you are the aggressor.

If you retreat you may be able to re-establish your right to self-defense.  Not only did the McMichael’s pursue Mr. Arbery, they did it with guns.  Then Travis McMichael exited his vehicle with a gun, further escalating the situation, and the opposite of retreating.

Then when Mr. Arbery arguably tried to defend himself against what had seemed to turn into a vigilante manhunt, Travis McMichael reported that he attempted to ‘de-escalate’ the situation by resisting Mr. Arbery with a push-pull maneuver and shooting him.  Claiming self-defense was an uphill climb from day 0 to anyone who saw the video and understood the background.


As we were reminded over and over and over in concealed carry class … you do not want to shoot someone.  If you can retreat, you are strongly advised to retreat.  If you are forced to shoot someone to defend yourself or someone else, you will likely be charged with murder, spend your life savings defending yourself, lose your spouse and kids, and struggle psychologically for years, even if you are 100% in the legal right.