An attorney for Ahmaud Arbery’s family says he’s shocked that authorities didn’t do anything for months after a Georgia man was shot dead in a residential Brunswick neighborhood.
According to attorney Lee Merritt, a new video shows retired district attorney investigator Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, chase Arbery for several minutes around the Satilla Shores neighborhood before killing him. Despite the evidence, Glynn County authorities didn’t make an arrest until months later, when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation intervened.
“No family should wait 10 weeks for an arrest,” Merritt told Fox News. “That was extremely exhausting for the family. They began to lose hope.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a man matching Arbery’s description was spotted on security footage at an open construction home in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, on the day he was killed. Arbery was allegedly in the home for less than three minutes and appeared to come out empty-handed before running off.
Within minutes, Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael began following Arbery in their truck. Both father and son were armed. Gregory McMichael would later tell investigators that they brought guns because they thought Arbery was armed.
A little before 1:40 p.m., McMichael and his son stopped their truck on a residential road and waited for Arbery. As Arbery approached and ran around the truck, a scuffle broke out. Travis McMichael, who had gotten out of the truck with a shotgun, began fighting with Arbery.
Arbery died at the scene after he was shot twice in the chest.
Almost three months after the incident, father and son were arrested and charged with murder, although they purportedly said they were attempting to make a citizen’s arrest when Arbery was killed.
The suspects also reportedly claimed that Arbery had been in the construction home more than once and that he looked like the same person from previous break-ins, but according to CNN, newly-obtained security footage shows several people were going into the construction home on various dates. None of them were killed.
At least two videos show children walking into the construction home together, the outlet reports. Another video reportedly shows a man and woman entering the home. The videos were taken between October 2019 and February 23, 2020, the day Arbery was killed.
Defense lawyers for the McMichaels said there was more to the story that has not been told yet, but didn’t elaborate on what it could be.
“The truth will reveal that this is not just another act of violent racism,” defense attorney Frank Hogue said. “Greg McMichael did not commit murder.”
Meanwhile, a man who recorded the incident as he drove behind Arbery has not been arrested or charged. Merritt said the man is trying to clear his name now, yet did absolutely nothing to help Arbery.
“If he was a good Samaritan, he would have honked his horn. It’s worth noting that on the video, he doesn’t even flinch. He doesn’t gasp. Shot after shot. He simply takes it all in,” Merritt said.
Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper-Jones, agreed.
“Why would you videotape it? Why didn’t he do anything to help? Why didn’t he reach out right after the shooting? Why did he only come forward after the video was leaked?”
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[Feature Photo: Ahmaud Arbery/Handout; Greg and Travis McMichael/Facebook]
