Over the past two weeks, conservative media outlets and officials in Georgia have tried ardently to exonerate 64-year-old Gregory McMichael and his 34-year-old son Travis by claiming Ahmaud Arbery deserved to be chased down for walking through a construction site.

Multiple news outlets have implied that Arbery was somehow stealing things from the home under construction in Brunswick, Georgia, despite being seen on camera not removing anything and wearing just basketball shorts and a t-shirt.

Now the homeowner is speaking out, telling Blavity and other news outlets that the man seen in the video did nothing wrong and appeared to be going to the construction site for water. 

Larry English and his lawyer have been speaking to the press this week to dispute claims made in the media that video footage showing Arbery walking through his home justified the actions of the McMichaels. 

“The individual depicted appears to be the same young man captured on video inside the house on February 11. It now appears that this young man may have been coming onto the property for water. There is a water source at the dock behind the house as well as a source near the front of the structure," English's lawyer told Blavity in a statement.

"Although these water sources do not appear within any of the cameras’ frames, the young man moves to and from their locations. In one angle from December 17, he appears to wipe his mouth and/or neck. In the last footage of him captured on December 17, what sounds like water can be heard. He walks out of the house, eases into a jog, and disappears from view,” the lawyer added.

In an interview with CNN, English reiterated that statement, downplaying the significance of the video that has circulated through news outlets over the past week. 

“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,” English told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday night.


Since Gregory and Travis were arrested on May 7 and charged with murder as well as aggravated assault, hundreds of stories have been written about surveillance footage leaked to the press showing Arbery walking through English's construction site. 

Advocates of the McMichaels said the video proved that the two men were right to pursue Arbery on camera on February 23. Gregory told police there had been a string of robberies in the neighborhood, something that news outlets have now proven was a lie. 

However, thousands of Black people on social media have said this effort to take innocent video and use it against Arbery was part of an increasingly common trend to criminalize Black people who die tragically due to the violence of police or white people in general.

Due to the national outrage over the situation, officials in Georgia have had no choice but to look into why it took police in the town months to arrest the McMichaels. Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson was initially given the case, but Gregory worked for her so she recused herself, KTLA 5 reported.

The case was then passed off to Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill, who said the shooting was "perfectly legal" under Georgia law because "their intent was to stop and hold this criminal suspect until law enforcement arrived."

Barnhill had to recuse himself after he revealed that his son and Gregory worked together. The case was then passed on to Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden who asked to step down, and the case then went to Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes.

According to KTLA 5, State Attorney General Chris Carr has now called for an investigation into the actions of Johnson and Barnhill. 

Lawyers for Arbery’s family have said repeatedly that he would stop at the site often and never took anything. English also said nothing was ever taken from the construction site.

“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 remained for only a brief period. Ahmaud did not take anything from the construction site. He did not cause any damage to the property,” the family's legal team said in a statement. 

“It’s like in every case where a tragedy like this happens and the person who caused it lies and tries to create false facts. Look at the police report. Saying there were a lot of thefts in the neighborhood — a lie. Saying that Ahmaud attacked them — a lie. Saying that he stole something and they were chasing this known suspect in the neighborhood — it was a lie,” attorney Chris Stewart told CNN’s Don Lemon.

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