Ahmaud & Timeline of Events
When Ahmaud appeared at the English property on the afternoon of
February 23, 2020, it was the first time he is definitely known to
have visited that property during daylight hours. Moreover,
it was also almost certainly the first time that he had been seen
jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood at any hour. It is
important that people understand that the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation (GBI) did a canvass of the
residents in Satilla Shores trying to substantiate the claim that Ahmaud routinely
jogged in the neighborhood. This canvass involved interviews with
dozens of current and former residents of Satilla Shores, and exactly
one person claimed she’d seen him running in the neighborhood. The
former resident was on the State’s witness list but never testified
at trial. Why, you ask? While it is supposition only, I can’t help
but believe the resident having a 300-page Glynn County PD file
on her and her family contributed to the prosecutor’s decision
not to call her at trial.
Ahmaud was captured on video lurking around Larry English’s property
four times during the dead of night. Even though the English
surveillance video clearly depicts Ahmaud, one might get the false
impression that Ahmaud was simply looking around the house while it
was under construction. The problem with this thesis is that the
house had no interior lighting and his features on video would be
completely indiscernible if it were not for the up to nine infrared
cameras that Larry English placed on his property AFTER having
expensive electronics and other items stolen from his boat.
While we don’t know why Ahmaud spent 4 minutes and 58 seconds on the
English property on February 23, we know that he wasn’t in the home
to steal, if his mother’s account to Shaun King is to be believed.
Ahmaud’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, was interviewed by civil rights
activist and trumpeter for Black Lives Matter Shaun King on May 5,
2020. (This date, coincidentally, is the same date that Governor Kemp
brought the GBI in to take the case over from the Glynn County Police
Department.) During the recorded interview, which has now been
removed from the Internet (but see below), Shaun King asks Cooper–Jones why
she felt lied to by the Glynn County Police when told that Ahmaud
had been shot and killed while burglarizing a home and during a fight
over a gun with the homeowner. Cooper–Jones explains that “…he
[Ahmaud] knew better than to rob somebody at one o’clock in the
afternoon, on a sunny Sunday afternoon.” Fortunately, we were able
to salvage a clip of her statement before it was purged, and you can
see and hear Wanda’s remarks below.
Yes, Ahmaud,
according to his own mother, knew better than to steal
during daylight hours. Then why would he visit during the daytime? It’s difficult to steal something unless
you know that it’s there. Any good thief would know that a daytime
reconnaissance trip could pay off during a subsequent visit under the
cover of darkness.
But there is more about Ahmaud that the public has never seen or
heard. He once had an Instagram account that was full of
pictures of him and others displaying apparent gang signs. Like the Shaun King video, Ahmaud’s
Instagram account has been permanently deleted, but we were
able to obtain some photos before that happened. Click on any of the thumbnails below to
display a full-size version. Then ask yourself if Ahmaud has been
portrayed accurately by mainstream media.
 |
Ahmaud Arbery has been repeatedly characterized as
a fun-loving, kind, sweet young man who would “give you the shirt off his back.”
And it is true that by all accounts, he was
a fair student who was well liked and who loved sports, including football.
His 2012 high school graduation photo (shown here), broadcast hundred, maybe
thousands, of times by media worldwide, seemingly depicts a happy
young man wearing a ball cap and smiling broadly.
So, what happened? How did this handsome young man with what were
surely hopes and dreams change from that smiling graduation photo to
the person that his own mother began to fear at times?
|
There have been frequent, yet unsubstantiated, rumors that while Ahmaud was
attending a party not long after graduation from high school,
someone spiked his drink with a substance that caused profound
changes in his personality. Even if something like that did happen, we can’t know
the extent of its
effect, if any, on Ahmaud.
We do know, however, through videos, photos, documents, social media posts,
police reports and witnesses, that Ahmaud began down a horrible path
in 2013 that ended with his death in a quiet Glynn County neighborhood
on February 23, 2020. We also know that before Ahmaud’s death, he was violent at times and frequently confrontational with many
people, including his mother, fellow students, law-enforcement
officers, and even complete strangers. These unsettling encounters
took place at school(s), Ahmaud’s home, on private property,
commercial establishments, and other places.
There were not just “one or two bad days” in Ahmaud’s life between 2013
and February 23, 2020, as most of the media reported. In fact,
little attention has been given to Ahmaud’s actions and behavior
during this period. Amazingly, the court ruled that Ahmaud’s violent
tendencies and mental health problems were not relevant to the case,
and the jury was not allowed to know any of it. Instead, the theme
of the trial stayed with the ongoing media narrative of “Black jogger murdered by white vigilante racists in a predominantly white
neighborhood."
Please review the
following and decide for yourself if Ahmaud was the person that the
mainstream media has portrayed.
March 14, 2013
Ahmaud was a student at South Georgia Technical College when he and
fellow students engaged in what was tantamount to a gang fight. He
is seen on surveillance video wearing a white sleeveless T-shirt
passing out pliers and other tools and then instructing other
combatants on using the tools as weapons. Moments later, several
cars filled with young men arrive at the campus and engage in a
brief, but vicious, fight with Ahmaud and other students. Ahmaud is
struck with a baseball bat. At least one of the combatants ended up
at the local hospital emergency room with serious injuries. For more
details:
December 3, 2013
Ahmaud appeared at a Brunswick High School basketball game, and an
on-duty police officer noted a pistol tucked in Ahmaud’s waistband.
He ran from the officer and discarded the gun before being stopped
and arrested. The gun was found to have had the serial number filed
away. A pursuing officer sustained slight injuries during the
pursuit and arrest. Arbery was charged with multiple violations in
this incident and jailed. On May 11, 2015, he received a
five-year probated sentence for Obstruction of an Officer, Carrying
a Firearm without a License, and Carrying a Weapon on School Property.
For more:
February 24, 2014
Glynn County Police Department records
identify Ahmaud as a
suspected gang member.
February 2, 2017
Ahmaud was arrested for
violating the
probation received for the gun incident at the Brunswick High
School.
November 11, 2017
Glynn County Police Officer Michael Kanago found Ahmaud sitting in
his car in an area known for drug activity. Ahmaud became hostile
toward the officer during the investigatory stop, especially when
the officer sought to check Ahmaud for weapons. At one point, Ahmaud
said to Officer Kanago, “You’re bothering me for nothing.” Kanago told
him that he was looking for criminal activity, at which point Arbery
said, “Criminal activity? I’m in a fucking park. I work!”
Body camera video showed Arbery shouting at Kanago: “You hit me with
that shit, bitch, you gonna be fucked up!” Ahmaud was released a few
minutes later. His driver's license having been found to be expired,
he was not allowed to drive away and instead ran from the scene.
Video of the incident has appeared on various websites.
December 1, 2017
Ahmaud and two juveniles were arrested at the local Walmart after
they were caught taking a Vizio flat screen television valued at $798.00.
Ahmaud was charged and pled guilty to felony Theft by Shoplifting on
February 16, 2018. He was on probation for this case at the time of
his death.
June 17, 2018
Interviewed by the GBI and FBI, Ahmaud’s
mother admitted
that Ahmaud would frighten her at times. On June 17, 2018, she phoned Glynn County 911 after an incident where Ahmaud refused to
turn over her car keys.
August 24, 2018
Ahmaud was visiting his grandmother’s home in Burke County when
Burke County Sheriff’s deputies received a call about him
trespassing onto property belonging to a law-enforcement officer.
The Burke County deputies visited Ahmaud’s grandmother’s home where
they served Ahmaud with a formal trespass warning. During the
encounter, Ahmaud became agitated and aggressive toward the
deputies. At one point, he told the deputy that he [Ahmaud] would
“whip his ass.” The threats made by Ahmaud can be heard approximately five
minutes into the video.
October 23, 2018
The Burke County Sheriff’s Office received a call
about people trespassing
inside an unoccupied mobile home. When the responding deputy arrived,
Ahmaud and two juveniles fled from the trailer. The deputies caught
and detained Ahmaud after a brief
chase and charged him with Obstruction of an Officer. The charge was pending
and awaiting disposition at the time of Ahmaud’s death. For more:
December 11, 2018
Accompanied by his mother, Ahmaud appeared at
the Glynn County Probation Office for a scheduled meeting with his
probation officer.
Ahmaud angrily denied knowledge of being on
probation for the shoplifting case. His mother expressed concern
over Ahmaud’s behavior. The probation officer, as a condition of
Ahmaud’s probation, ordered a mental health examination.
December 14, 2018
Ahmaud underwent a mental health examination at Gateway Behavioral
Health Services in Brunswick. He was diagnosed with
Schizoaffective Disorder with command hallucinations that he says
sometimes told him to hurt people. He was prescribed medication, but
there is no evidence that he followed up with scheduled appointments.
(Note: Probation and mental records are not publicly accessible. However, statements made on this website are based on a review of the records received during discovery of the case.)
March 14, 2019
Ahmaud told his probation officer
that he wasn’t taking the
medication prescribed during the December 14, 2018, mental health
evaluation because it upset his stomach. There is no evidence to
indicate that the probation office or family took further steps to
get Ahmaud treatment for his apparently worsening mental health.(Note: Mental
health records are normally confidential under HIPAA. However, the diagnosis in Ahmaud’s case has been made public.)
October 25, 2019
Ahmaud was captured on surveillance video pilfering on the dock
behind the home of Larry English. This is the first documented time
that Ahmaud was seen on the English property and in the Satilla Shores
neighborhood.
November 18, 2019
Ahmaud was captured on surveillance video for the second time in
complete darkness at the home of Larry English. There are two video clips.
December 17, 2019
For yet a third time, Ahmaud was captured on
surveillance video in complete darkness at the home of Larry
English. There are three clips from this occasion.
January 1, 2020
Travis reported that a pistol had been stolen from his truck. There
was confusion as
to the specific time the gun was taken. However, a neighbor in the
adjacent Royal Oaks subdivision also had a vehicle entered at or
near 4:00 a.m. the same day, and several expensive items were stolen.
While fleeing, the thief left a black bandana on the ground, which
was recovered by Glynn County PD.
Video was taken of the
incident. Although Ahmaud
cannot be identified, the person in the video is of a similar size, and Ahmaud
frequently wore a black bandana around his neck. Law enforcement has
not requested testing of the bandana for the presence of DNA.
February 11, 2020
Ahmaud was seen by Travis outside the home of Larry English. When
Travis shone his headlights on him, Ahmaud intimated that he might have a
weapon. Travis called 911, but when the GCPD responded, Ahmaud was nowhere to be found. Video of the incident is available
as is the recording of Travis's call to 911. I urge you to listen to the stress in Travis’s voice as he talks
to the 911 dispatcher and ask yourself if the encounter with Ahmaud
wasn't worrisome.
December 2019 – January 2020
Ahmaud was identified as frequently running into the Love’s Truck
Stop at Exit 29, grabbing candy and snacks from the shelves, and
fleeing before he could be stopped. Ahmaud’s identity wasn’t known
until the news media reported his tragic death, but several
employees recognized him on sight. One of the store’s managers, who
has worked there for more than a dozen years, stated that Ahmaud
stole from the store at least ten times before she stopped him one
day and banned him from the store. However, he would return when she was not
working and continue taking candy and snacks while running in one
door and out the other.
In late December 2019 or early January 2020, a local businessman’s
teenaged stepdaughter was working at a nearby grocery store when she
confronted and tried to stop Ahmaud after he stole food items from
the store. Ahmaud threatened the teenager, and she shared her
experience with her stepfather. The man didn't know Ahmaud’s name,
but he knew of Ahmaud’s reputation for stealing from Love’s.
Understandably upset about the threats made to his
stepdaughter, the man confronted Ahmaud outside Love’s Truck Stop
a couple of days later. This confrontation led to a physical
altercation that was captured on cell phone video. Like many other
potential witnesses for Greg and Travis, the stepfather became so
concerned by the threats and intimidation tactics of certain groups
after Ahmaud’s death that he refused to show up in court after being
subpoenaed.
There are several other instances where Ahmaud stole from small
businesses and was caught trespassing on private property--including
peering into windows and rattling locked doors. At least two
witnesses to these events left town and evaded subpoenas out of fear
of being attacked online or even physically. Many of our neighbors,
family members, and supporters have been subjected to such vile
attacks and threats for speaking out against the official narrative:
"Black Jogger murdered by white vigilante racists in a predominantly
white neighborhood.”
Note: Some of the events posted in this
timeline have not been definitively connected to Ahmaud Arbery
because to date law enforcement has generally ignored them. In at least one incident,
the authorities have refused to investigate and determine if Ahmaud was linked to theft of
firearms from vehicles in Satilla Shores and neighboring Royal Oaks on January 1, 2020.
