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Ahmaud Arbery shooting video was leaked by one of the men charged with his murder
Demonstrators protest the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery at the Glynn County Courthouse on May 8 in Brunswick, Georgia. Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael were arrested and charged with murder. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Ahmaud Arbery shooting video was leaked by one of the men charged with his murder

He thought it would make them look better

Ahmaud Arbery was killed in February in Brunswick, Georgia. The men responsible for his death weren't arrested and charged with murder until May, when video of the confrontation was leaked to the media. As it turns out, the video was leaked by one of the accused murderers, because he thought it would make them look better, WSB-TV reported.

Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, are charged with murder after the two chased Arbery, who was unarmed, and confronted him, allegedly believing he had burglarized a home that was unoccupied and still under construction. Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery during the ensuing altercation in what he claims was self-defense.

Initially, an attorney in Brunswick named Alan Tucker claimed responsibility for leaking the video, saying he did it in an attempt to ease racial tensions by showing what actually happened when Arbery was killed. The video had the exact opposite result, and the case became a national civil rights issue.

Tucker has since revealed that Gregory McMichael, a former police officer, came to him with the video of the shooting, seeking assistance in getting it to local media.

Revisiting the incident: Surveillance video shows Arbery entering a home in the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Brunswick on Feb. 23. There is no evidence that he caused any damage or took any property. Someone called 911 to report Arbery's presence on the property.

Footage showed Arbery running out of the house and down the street. That's when the McMichaels, both with firearms, pursued him in their truck to attempt a citizen arrest, allegedly believing him to be the same black male who had previously trespassed on that property, which was owned by Larry English.

English's attorney has speculated that Arbery may have entered the property to get some water. Arbery's mother said he was out for a jog that day. From WTVD-TV:

"It now appears that this young man may have been coming onto the property for water," J. Elizabeth Graddy, the attorney for homeowner Larry English, said in a statement. "There is a water source at the dock behind the house as well as a source near the front of the structure. Although these water sources do not appear within any of the cameras' frames, the young man moves to and from their locations."

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