What the McMichael/Bryan and Kyle Rittenhouse trials say about America – The Guardian

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The comedian Beth Stelling once described the US legal system as the white mans FUBU: just for us, by us. If you had any illusions that this description was a comedic exaggeration then the past week should have shattered them. Two high-profile murder cases have shone a bright light on the inequities of the justice system and made it very clear who the law is there to serve.

Lets start with the McMichael/Bryan trial in Georgia. To recap: three white men (father and son defendants, Greg and Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William Bryan) chased and brutally killed an unarmed 25-year-old Black man called Ahmaud Arbery last February. Arbery had been out jogging near his home; the defendants claimed they thought he was fleeing an attempted burglary.

The first shocking thing about the McMichael/Bryan case is the resistance there was to a trial even taking place. One of the first prosecutors assigned to the case initially recommended not charging the men involved, saying their pursuit of Arbery was perfectly legal because of slavery-era law that gave private citizens the power to arrest people if they thought a crime was being committed. Had a graphic video, taken by Bryan, of the McMichaels confronting Arbery not gone viral then his death could easily have been swept under the rug.

A trial may have been granted; whether its fair is another question. The jury are nearly all white; there is just one Black juror. This, by the way, is in a county that is nearly 27% Black. Worse still? The judge (who, Im sure I dont need to tell you, is a white guy), noted that there appeared to be intentional discrimination in the selection of the predominately white jury, but allowed the trial to continue anyway. Not only does the defense seem to have an issue with Black jurors, it has also made clear it has an issue with Black pastors. A day after the Rev Al Sharpton sat in the back of the courtroom, defense attorney Kevin Gough told the judge: We dont want any more Black pastors coming in here. Gough was worried they could be intimidating for the predominately white jury.

Unfolding at the same time as the McMichael/Bryan case, with a number of parallels, is 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouses trial. Again, the simple fact that a trial is taking place is notable. Rittenhouse shot three white men, killing two of them and wounding the other, during police brutality protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August. Had Rittenhouse been Black, do you really think hed be alive to stand trial right now? Somehow I strongly suspect that he might not have been taken into custody healthy and well. Jacob Blake, whose shooting prompted the Kenosha protests, certainly wasnt. Blake was left paralyzed from the waist down after a white police officer shot him seven times in the back; charges were not filed against the police officer after video showed Blake had been armed with a knife.

Rittenhouse did not find himself at the Kenosha protest by chance; he crossed state lines to attend. He illegally obtained an automatic weapon and brought it with him. He shot three people. While out on bail, he showed up at a bar in T-shirt that said Free as Fuck, and took photos with members of the Proud Boys. Had he been Black, the conservative media would undoubtedly be treating him like a terrorist; instead, hes being treated like a hero.

Meanwhile, in the courtroom, the judge seems to be treating him with kid gloves. Judge Bruce Schroeder has raised a number of questions about his impartiality after making decisions that seem to strongly favour Rittenhouse. Last month, for example, he ruled that the people shot by Rittenhouse cannot be referred to as victims by prosecutors in court; defense attorneys may, however, call them arsonists or looters. Schroeders judgement has also been called into question after he made a very inappropriate joke about Asian food in the courtroom.

Its not clear what the verdict will be in either the Rittenhouse or McMichael/Bryan trial. But the dynamics of each case have made it more than clear who the overwhelmingly white and male US legal system is designed to protect. One nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? Its a lovely sentiment. But its rubbish.

Republican congressman Paul Gosar (whose own siblings urged people not to vote for him) has been criticized for tweeting a video which depicted him striking the New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword. Sadly, this isnt anything out of the ordinary for AOC: she is routinely subjected to threatening behaviour from her Republican colleagues. AOC responded to the video by calling Gosar just a collection of wet toothpicks who couldnt open a pickle jar.

The country prohibited the possession of child abuse material in 2014, but there is strong resistance to cracking down on porn manga depicting minors. Vice outlines the issue.

The study found that men and womens emotional stability and fluctuations are clearly, consistently and unmistakably more similar than they are different.

Why? Because people want their skin to look dewy and wet, apparently. All I can say is that I am very glad I am no longer in my 20s.

Sophie Lewis, writing in the LRB, has an interesting review of a new book by Mallory OMeara called Girly Drinks: a world history of women and alcohol. Lewis notes that women from the Islamic and Arab world dont make it into the book, despite rich topics like Arab womens wine poetry. Perhaps, in planning her world history, OMeara subconsciously adhered to the Western idea that Arab feminism is a contradiction in terms, Lewis writes. Its a shame because, that aside, the book looks fascinating.

Every move you make, every step you take, your cat is keeping track of you. A new study suggests that cats keep tabs on where people are in their homes, even when they cant see them. [It suggests] that cats have the ability to picture the invisible in their minds, one of the researchers noted. Cats [may] have a more profound mind than is thought. Pretty sure zero cat owners will be surprised by this news

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What the McMichael/Bryan and Kyle Rittenhouse trials say about America - The Guardian