Ahmed Arbery, the unarmed black jogger chased down and killed by two white men in Georgia, was recorded checking out a construction site at some point before he was shot dead in the street. After the footage was used to imply Arbery was at fault for his own lynching, the owner of the construction site says Arbery committed no crime and condemned those suggesting otherwise. The owner confirmed nothing was taken from the site.
The February 23 footage, captured moments before Arbery’s death, appears to show him looking around but never touching anything — and eventually, walking away.
“I don’t want it to be put out and misused and misinterpreted for people to think that I had accused Mr. Arbery of stealing or robbery, because I never did,” Larry English, the homeowner told CNN’s Chris Cuomo Tuesday night.
“By the time Larry saw the video, Mr. Arbery had been killed,” English’s attorney, Elizabeth Graddy, said.
This is an important detail, as one of the killers claimed Arbery resembled a suspect he’d seen on security video at a break-in.
Greg McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were finally arrested and charged with murder Thursday after footage of the killing itself went viral. A local prosecutor, reportedly a former employer of the elder McMichael, had told police not to arrest them on the scene and declined to press charges. McMichael has extensive connections to local law enforcement.