The legal team representing Gregory McMichael, a former Georgia police officer charged with shooting and killing Ahmaud Arbery in February, revealed the existence of additional video surrounding the incident to reporters on Friday.
WTLV reported attorneys for the McMichaels spoke about the case with the media and said that videos that have not been released to the public show that there is more to the case than is being reported.
“There is more than one video of the incident,” attorney Laura Hogue said.
“There are also issues with timing with videos on the internet …
may not be the only one that aides this case.”
The attorneys for the two men arrested also say that the killing was not racially motivated.
“The truth will reveal that this is not just another act of violent racism,” attorney Franklin Hogue said.
“Greg McMichael did not commit murder.”
“The full story will not come to light until after all the evidence has been studied, and then if the current DA believes the committed crimes are worthy of prosecution then we will answer those charges in a court of law,” he continued
“We will not try the case in the media, on courthouse steps, or in our office,” Laura Hogue added. “The facts will come out in the courtroom.”
It is unclear what is on the video the attorneys are referring to or if it will be made public at some point.
Arbery, 25, was killed on Feb. 23 after a tussle over a shotgun with McMichael, 64.
The story has thus far been largely portrayed as being racially motivated, as McMichael and his 34-year-old son Travis McMichael, who are white, pursued Arbery, who is black, as he was reported to be jogging down a residential street in Brunswick, Georgia.
Video of the shooting incident was released online a day before the father and son were arrested on May 7, and shows the moment Arbery was shot and killed.
Another video later surfaced which purported to show Arbery trespassing inside a home in the neighborhood that was under construction.
It was the alleged trespassing incident at the home which reportedly led to the chase by the McMichaels, and ultimately the shooting death of Arbery.
WSAV-TV obtained video of Arbery reportedly trespassing on the property.
Arbery’s mother has said that her son was an avid jogger and she believed he was in the neighborhood exercising.
The McMichaels told police they chased Arbery because they believed he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect caught on surveillance video by the home’s owner, and they were attempting to make a citizens’ arrest.
The Associated Press reported that Travis McMichael called 911 on Feb. 11 to report a black male trespassing at the residence.
“When I turned around and saw him and backed up, he reached into his pocket and ran into the house,” McMichael told a dispatcher. “So I don’t know if he’s armed or not. But he looked like, he was acting like he was.”
The fatal incident occurred two weeks later.
Both Gregory and Travis McMichael are charged with felony murder and aggravated assault.
Gregory McMichael is a former police officer who worked in Glynn County, Georgia, and then as a 20-year investigator for the local district attorney’s office.
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