From the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson on the conviction of Ahmaud Arbery's killers, and the common thread of vigilantism with the Kyle Rittenhouse case:
"What they have in common is that they were both about vigilantism — about civilians, with no authority or training, arming themselves and rushing to 'defend' their communities. In both incidents, people died tragically and needlessly. I wish Rittenhouse had been convicted of something, anything, if only as a deterrent to future potential camo-clad crusaders.
But justice is supposed to be specific, not generalized. And the Arbery case was potentially more explosive because it was so specifically about race — and because it had such specific historical resonance.
If White men chase an unarmed Black man down and lynch him, they will be punished. That should be an unremarkable statement. And we should not have to feel so relieved to see it affirmed."
Another common factor is that all the shooters were white supremacists in their implicit, if not stated, beliefs: Proud Boy-admiring Rittenhouse by reacting to Black Lives Matter protesters by crossing state lines armed and looking for trouble, and the Arbery killers by hunting down an unarmed black jogger in a white neighborhood in broad daylight. The verdict in the former case has given right-wing, gun toting "camo-clad crusaders" hope that they can act out their violent fantasies; the verdict in the latter case should give them pause for now.
