The nation is still reeling over the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, the unarmed black man who was killed by two white men as he took a jog through a Georgia neighborhood.
Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael were finally arrested and charged for the murder however, new details have emerged revealing that this wasn’t their first run-in with Arbery.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, neighbor Diego Perez says that two weeks before the shooting, the McMichaels had a confrontation with a young black man who entered a nearby house that was under construction.
On Feb. 11, a motion-sensor security camera from the construction site sent a notification to owner Larry English, who was two hours away from the location. The owner texted the video to Perez, who lived near the site.
Perez told English that he would be able to check on the property while he was away. English told AJC that he did not know the McMichaels and that he did not provide them with any camera footage of Arbery on his site. He also said that nothing was taken from his property and he never accused anyone of stealing.
“Travis saw him in the yard and Travis stopped,” Perez told AJC. “He confronted [the man] halfway into the yard. He said [the man] reached for his waistband and Travis got spooked and went down the road.”
When Travis returned, he brought along his father, who was armed. Gregory reportedly called the Glynn County Police Department. Once the police arrived, Perez gave a description of Arbery’s car.
“All we knew about him was that he was the guy who kept showing up on our cameras,” Perez said. “No one knew who it was.”
Perez was also at the scene of the shooting on Feb. 23 and recognized Arbery as the same man they confronted earlier that month.
Gregory and Travis are currently being held at Glynn County Detention Center. A court judge has denied bond for both suspects.
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