New video shows Ahmaud Arbery being chased for 4 minutes before being shot dead, says family attorney
Ahmaud Arbery was reportedly chased for more than four minutes by the father-son duo, who shot and killed him, and a neighbor, who filmed the incident, Arbery's family attorney has said.
The father and son duo, 64-year-old Gregory McMichael — a former police officer — and 34-year-old Travis McMichael, shot the 25-year-old dead on February 23 on a street in Brunswick, Georgia in broad daylight while he was jogging. The pair reportedly suspected him to be a burglar running around the neighborhood. Arbery was shot thrice and was reported dead on the scene. After a video of the assault — taken by McMichaels' neighbor William Bryan — was recently released on social media, the incident sparked a widespread racial outcry in the country and has led many to question why the suspects were arrested only after the outrage. No arrests were made in the case for over two months.
Arbery family lawyer Lee Merritt on Monday, May 18, confirmed that a new video shows Gregory, his son Travis, and Bryan, chasing an unarmed black man for several minutes in the Satilla Shores neighborhood before opening fire.
Meritt, while speaking to Fox News, said that the amount of time local authorities just deliberated on evidence was staggering as it highlights the prejudices in the Georgian town. The McMichaels were not arrested even after two months of the assault, the arrest was made only after the video triggered an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
"No family should wait 10 weeks for an arrest," he said. "That was extremely exhausting for the family. They began to lose hope."
The GBI Director Vic Reynolds, in a statement, said: "I can't answer what another agency did or didn't see but I can tell you that, based on our involvement in the case, considering the fact that we hit the ground running Wednesday morning and within 36 hours, we had secured warrants for two individuals for felony murder. I think that speaks volumes for itself and that probable cause was clear to our agents pretty quickly."
Although the McMichaels were arrested in the case, Bryan was not. He claimed he was just a witness to the incident, however, he is currently being probed by the GBI.
"He is a liar," Merritt asserted, while speaking to the outlet. He added that Bryan had changed his story from initially telling the police he was trying to nab Arbery along with the McMichaels to now "launching a campaign to clear his name."
"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, also told the outlet that she thinks Bryan is complicit in her son's death. "Why would you videotape it? Why didn't he do anything to help?" she said. "Why didn't he reach out right after the shooting? Why did he only come forward after the video was leaked?"
The McMichaels have been jailed on murder charges since May 7. Latest reports state that the two men are being held in a separate wing of the Glynn County Detention Center, in Brunswick, Georgia.