Travis McMichael told police 'there was nothing else I could do' immediately after he shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery in the middle of the street
Travis McMichael told police officers "there was nothing else I could do" but shoot Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man jogging through his neighborhood, who McMichael chased through the streets with his truck.
"If he would have stopped, this wouldn't have happened," McMichael said.
Body camera footage of McMichael's interaction with Glynn County police officers was first obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Daily Mail posted segments of the footage on Thursday. The Glynn County Superior Court Clerk's Office refused to send Insider a video file of the footage, and a spokesperson said the only way to send it was via thumb drive, which they couldn't mail until next Tuesday because they are out of thumb drives.
McMichael shot and killed Arbery with a shotgun on February 23, following an altercation between them. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was jogging through a Georgia neighborhood when Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, chased him through the street.
The newly released video shows the immediate aftermath of the killing, as Travis McMichael spoke to police officers, who did not handcuff or arrest him. The father-son duo was arrested on murder charges in May, after a national outcry. They were denied bond in November after prosecutors presented evidence of racist text messages, and they remain in jail awaiting trial.
The McMichaels, who have pleaded not guilty, said they chased Arbery because they believed he was responsible for a series of break-ins in the neighborhood. Travis McMichael said in the video recording that they ran out "to stop him to talk to him" while carrying a shotgun, and that Arbery fought him in response.
"I told him to stop, stop, stop 'til he hit me," Travis McMichael said. "There was nothing else I could do."
"I want it done right. It just doesn't look good," he added later. "Last thing I ever want to do in my life."
Police officers were friendly with the McMichaels immediately after the killing
The video also shows the police officer's familiarity with Gregory McMichael, who had a 30-year career in local law enforcement before the incident.
The elder McMichael told his son "it's going to be OK" and "you had no choice," according to The Daily Mail.
"To be perfectly honest with you, if I could've got a shot at the guy, I'd have shot him myself," Gregory McMichael told an officer, according to the Daily Mail.
It also shows one officer trying to comfort Travis McMichael as he tells her what happened.
"Don't get blood all over yourself. If you need to move around, do what you need to do," she said. "Man, I can't imagine."
The Daily Mail also reported Gregory McMichael asking an officer if they would handcuff his son.
"No. Why would he be in cuffs?" an officer responded, according to the Daily Mail.
Also charged in the case is William "Roddie" Bryan, who filmed the encounter between the McMichaels and Arbery. He has also pleaded not guilty.
Ben Crump, an attorney representing Arbery's family, said in a statement provided to Insider that the video shows that Bryan moved his truck to stop Arbery from escaping the McMichael's.
"The footage clearly documents that Bryan used his truck to block Ahmaud from escaping the McMichaels," Crump said. "With the murderous teamwork of Bryan and the McMichael's exposed for the world to see, we are confident that this will bring us one step closer to justice for the Arbery family."
- Read more:
- Ahmaud Arbery's accused killers were denied bond after prosecutors brought evidence of racist social media posts and text messages
- The man representing the families of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor said he takes on the biggest cases so he can 'help the Davids of the world take on the Goliath'
- Georgia voters ousted the district attorney who oversaw Ahmaud Arbery's case
- How do you get rid of cops without creating another George Zimmerman? Groups aiming to defund the police have an idea.
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