Sorry, I am not sure how there would be confirmation of the McMichael's or 3rd person's states of mind. Their words to 911, their coordinated action to trap a black man who was running on the street in the middle of the day in an armed ambush. Gregory McMaster's words in the 911 call and incident report make it clear they did not think the runner was in the process of committing a crime. He called 911 and reported that a black man is running on the street. The dispatcher tried to find out what the man was doing that was wrong. McMichael stated he'd looked in a house under construction. The dispatcher asked, are you saying there is a burglary in progress? McMaster said 'No. . . . It's open, it's under construction.' He knew it was not a burglary and said so to the dispatcher. The whole citizen arrest claim is belied by the 911. McMaster knew there was no crime that allowed a witness to make a citizen arrest. That justification came after Arbery was dead.
After the 911, when McMaster knew police had been dispatched, he got his son and friend, got guns, and set out in 2 vehicles to trap the black man who ran on the street. According to McMasters own words in the incident report his friend used his vehicle to box the jogger in from behind and the McMasters waited in their truck ahead of the runner. McMaster was in the bed of the truck, as if they were hunting, and Travis drove. As Arbery approached, Travis jumped out of the driver's side (left side) brandishing a shotgun. Arbery went around the right side of the truck, on the grass, to avoid Travis. Travis went around the front of the truck and got in close contact with Arbery. How the physical altercation started is not on camera. But clearly Travis McMaster initiated contact while brandishing a shotgun.
Maybe you have a more specific definition of a white supremacists than I do. For me, the belief that a black person has no right to run on a public street or that a white person has the right to detain a black person without cause, at gunpoint, and ultimately kill the person because was a black man running on the street they live on tells me it was racially motivated.
It doesn't matter to me whether the McMichaels and friend were hood-wearing members of the KKK or not. Their words and actions are clear that they felt entitled to control a black person's running route and he is dead because of that entitlement. In the end, there is no hate crime statute in Georgia so the race of the victim or perpetrators won't matter in state court.
The cronyism that derailed the investigation--accepting the white perpetrators words as a given despite having the video--smacks of institutional racism. In a criminal prosecution, the government is supposed to stand for the victim because dead people don't get to give their side of the story. So far Georgia has accepted the instigators word as fact, despite the 911 call and the video. Then authorities have been unwilling/unable to look into the death of an unarmed black man because of conflicts of interests. Those conflicts should have resulted in the DA and 2 prosecutors recusal of their own accord. Finally, after more than 2 months and public outcry generated by the McMaster's attorney's release of the video, a different DA will investigate and a 3rd prosecutor has been named. I hope the federal government steps in to investigate the death as well as the actions of the original DA and prosecutors as civil rights matters.
