Arbery Family Lawyer: 'Justice by Video' Is Not Justice

Travis McMichael (the one who had the actual fight with Arbery) has never been a police officer.

His father Gregory McMichael, who was standing in the back of the truck the entire time, was a police officer until 2019. His law enforcement certification along with his powers of arrest were suspended and his service firearm was taken away from him in February 2019. He retired while still under suspension in June 2019.

At the time of the encounter with Arbery, he was a civilian with no powers of arrest beyond that of a civilian. And at no time did he physically engage with Arbery. In fact, Gregory McMichael was on his phone in the back of the truck until after Arbery was shot.

I’ve posted only facts provided to the public or that are clear in the video. You’ve talked about a “perp” grabbing a cop’s gun. I was correcting your misstatements.

A) Arbery is not a “perp” in this instance. Arbery has not been accused of any crime on the day in question. Even the 911 operator that Travis McMichael spoke to was asking Travis what Arbery was doing wrong after Travis described the situation. The only “perps” accused of any criminal activity relating to this incident are the McMichaels and Bryan. You may believe Arbery was thinking about doing something illegal, but there is zero evidence to support that he actually DID anything illegal there on that day. Zero.

B) Travis McMichael was the one engaged in a physical struggle with Arbery. Travis McMichael is not now and never has been a police officer. Nobody was “grabbing the cop’s gun” because there was no cop.

Here’s what we know from the video:
- Arbery was running down the street
- The McMichaels parked their vehicle in the middle of the street in Arbery’s path
- Travis McMichael stood at the driver side holding a shotgun
- Arbery veered to the right away from Travis McMichael’s side of the truck and toward the passenger side and continued to run
- As Arbery passed by the passenger side of the truck and out of view from the video, Travis McMichael moved to the front of the truck also out of view from the video.
- The two men encountered one another while the view of them was blocked by the McMichaels’ truck, something happened, and a struggle then began.
- The next time we see either of them, they’re struggling over the shotgun.

That’s what we see in the video. I haven’t made any claim to any knowledge beyond what’s in the 911 call, the video, or other statements in the public record. You were incorrect about Travis McMichael being a police officer and you were incorrect about Arbery being a “perp”. The first was a flat misstatement. It just isn’t true. He isn’t a cop. He’s never been a cop. The second was a mischaracterization since we have zero evidence to support the idea that Arbery perpetrated any illegal act.

I have no idea what you’re talking about because what you’re saying doesn’t match with any fact I’m aware.

In the 2017 incident in the park with Arbery, he was sitting in his car alone in a park. An officer questioned what he was doing. The officer observed Arbery appear to become “enraged” and decided to deploy his taser. The taser malfunctioned. Arbery was not actually tased. The original responding officer had searched Arbery for weapons and found none. They found no evidence of wrongdoing and released Arbery without arrest or charges. So he wasn’t a “perp” then.

In the 2019 incident with the McMichaels, the only one holding a shotgun was Travis McMichael. Travis McMichael is not and has never been a police officer. No one has accused Arbery of any criminal action leading to the 2019 incident with the McMichaels, so he wasn’t a “perp” then either.

Are you referring to some other incident with Arbery?

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