BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into several videos and photographs related to the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed while jogging by two white men in Glynn County.
Arbery was jogging through a Brunswick neighborhood Feb. 23 when a father and son, Greg and Travis McMichael, drove after him with guns. Video shows Arbery and Travis McMichael get into a confrontation. Arbery was shot three times and died at the scene. The McMichaels have been arrested on murder charges.
The new digital video file was obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from a source outside the GBI on Friday, and investigators confirmed it was part of the case file when the agency entered the case on Tuesday.
The video appears to be from a surveillance camera at a Brunswick home near where Arbery was shot about an hour earlier.
The GBI confirms they are using that video to try to help stitch together what happened on that day back in February.
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The new video released Saturday shows someone who appears to be Arbery walking into a home that was under construction, then coming back out.
The security camera, which was mounted on a home about a block down, shows a man that appears to be Arbery in a white shirt and shorts walk into the open garage of a house under construction, then around back.
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Six minutes later, the man leaves the home and then runs down the street. Nothing appears to be in his hands. A neighbor appears on camera across the street about the same time a 911 call was made.
"He's running right now," the 911 caller said. "There he goes right now."
The 911 caller was asked if the man was doing anything wrong. The 911 caller told dispatchers that the man had been caught on camera many times at night.
“It’s kind of an ongoing thing,” the caller said.
A short time alter, a pickup truck pulls out of the area where Greg and Travis McMichael live.
>> Ahmaud Arbery: Gregory and Travis McMichael charged with murder
The McMichaels said they were trying to make a citizens arrest when Arbery fought back and was shot and killed. The father and son claim self-defense.
WSB-TV spoke exclusively to Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery Sr., and his uncle, Gary Arbery, about the new video at a rally in Ahmaud Arbery’s honor Saturday. Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Brunswick on what would have been the weekend of Ahmuad Arbery’s birthday.
"Whatever they are trying to do to justify what they did, they can't do it," Gary Arbery said.
“If he committed a crime, why don’t you call the authorities?” Marcus Arbery said. “But you came at him like you were hunting an animal.”
A family lawyer said the video does appear to show Arbery, but that he was doing nothing wrong and that the video shows what family members already knew: That he was jogging and stopped to take a look at a construction site.
“Our office has reviewed the surveillance video which appears to show a person, believed to be Ahmaud Arbery, entering a property under construction. The individual remains on the property for under three minutes before continuing to jog down the road. This video is consistent with the evidence already known to us. Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog. He stopped by a property under construction where he engaged in no illegal activity and only remained for a brief period. Ahmaud did not take anything from the construction site. He did not cause any damage to the property. He remained for a brief period of time and was not instructed by anyone to leave, but rather left on his own accord to continue his jog. Ahmaud’s actions at this empty home under construction were in no way a felony under Georgia law. This video confirms that Mr. Arbery’s murder was not justified and the actions of the men who pursued him and ambushed him were unjustified. We reiterate, Ahmaud Arbery did not take part in ANY felony, had no illegal substances in his system, was not armed yet was shot three times with a shotgun at close range.”
Cox Media Group
