Ahmaud Arbery was chased for over four minutes before being shot: attorney
Slain jogger Ahmaud Arbery was chased through a Georgia neighborhood for more than four minutes before he was confronted and shot dead, an attorney for his family said Monday.
Footage of the unarmed Arbery’s death in February sparked outrage when it was released earlier this month — leading to murder charges for the ex-cop and his son who were shown in the fatal confrontation.
But the video of Arbery’s death is longer than what was released publicly and is far more damning, as it shows the 25-year-old black man being followed through the streets of Brunswick for more than four minutes, family attorney S. Lee Merritt told Action News Jax.
The footage shows Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34 — the father and son charged with his murder — trailing Arbery in their pickup before getting out with a shotgun, Fox News says.
It also raises fresh questions about why William “Roddie” Bryan — who has always insisted he was just a good Samaritan helping the case — would film for so long, the lawyer said.
“He is a liar,” Merritt told Fox, accusing him of initially telling the police he was trying to trap Arbery but now trying 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 told Fox News.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, also told Fox she isn’t buying the good-neighbor defense.
“Why would you videotape it? Why didn’t he do anything to help? Why didn’t he reach out right after the shooting?” she told the network in a telephone interview.
“Why did he only come forward after the video was leaked?”
It was not immediately clear if authorities always had the full video showing Arbery being followed for so long.
“I can’t answer what another agency did or didn’t see,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds told Fox News.
Reynolds noted, however, that the bureau secured felony murder warrants within 36 hours of getting involved in the case.
“I think that speaks volumes for itself and that probable cause was clear to our agents pretty quickly,” Reynolds told the network.