The attorneys representing Greg McMichael, charged with murder in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, revealed Friday that additional video exists that may cast a different light on their deadly encounter.
“There is more than one video of the incident,” said Laura Hogue, who is representing McMichael along with her husband, Franklin Hogue. “There are issues with timing on videos on the internet, issues of date stamps and time stamps.”
"The video may not be the only video that becomes important in this case," Laura Hogue told reporters at a press conference outside the couple's Macon office.
» CONTINUING COVERAGE: AHMAUD ARBERY DEATH
That 36-second video, posted online May 5, spurred widespread outrage and prompted the GBI to take over the investigation. It shows Arbery, who was African-American, attempting to run past a pick-up truck parked on a street inside Satilla Shores, a mostly white community just south of Brunswick.
The video, shot by William Bryan, who lives nearby, shows Arbery being met on the other side of the vehicle by Travis McMichael, armed with a shotgun. A tussle ensues and three shots are fired off-camera. Arbery attempts to run away but collapses just a few feet away.
Two days after the video’s release, Greg Michael, 64, and his 34-year-old son Travis McMichael were arrested. The elder McMichael, a former investigator with the Brunswick Judicial Circuit district attorney’s office, is charged as a party to the crime.
Laura Hogue said the defense is aware of “facts that point to a very different narrative” than the one that has played out in national media coverage over the last 10 days.
Franklin Hogue said racism did not play a role in Arbery’s death.
“Greg McMichael did not commit murder,” Franklin Hogue said. “Greg McMichael is not a party to the crime of murder. This is not some sort of hate crime fueled by racism.”
Franklin Hogue said new information will be disclosed at an as-yet unscheduled preliminary hearing that “tells a very different story, both about Greg, his son Travis and about Ahmaud Arbery.”
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