Arbery jurors see video of people stealing from home

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Jurors in the trial of three white men charged in Ahmaud Arbery’s killing watched security camera videos Thursday that show other people entering a home under construction in the months before the 25-year-old Black man was chased and gunned down after running from the site.

They saw two white boys with bicycles walk into the open garage to drag away plywood. They watched a clip of a white man and woman strolling into the home at night, the man carrying a small bag in one hand.

And jurors saw Arbery himself wandering between the home’s exposed beams and along its backyard boat dock on five different occasions between Oct. 25, 2019, and Feb. 23, 2020 — the last time mere minutes before he was shot dead in the street on a Sunday afternoon.

Greg Mcmichael, 65, and his son Travis Mcmichael, 35, armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after he ran past their yard, five doors down from the unfinished house with no doors or windows. A neighbor, 52-year-old William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and recorded cellphone video of Travis Mcmichael shooting Arbery three times at close range.

The three men are standing trial on murder and other charges at the Glynn County courthouse in coastal Georgia, where Arbery’s killing broadened a national outcry over racial injustice. The Mcmichaels told police they suspected Arbery was a burglar, and Travis Mcmichael shot him in self-defense after Arbery attacked with his fists.

On Thursday, the jury heard prerecorded testimony from Larry English, who had installed security cameras inside the home he was building on the Mcmichaels’ street. English said he put cameras behind the house after learning children had been playing on his dock. He added more out front and inside when he discovered fishing gear and a cooler missing from a boat in the home’s large garage.

“Was it common in your experience as a general contractor to have people coming in and out of construction sites?” prosecutor Paul Camarillo asked English.

“Frequently during the daytime,” said English, noting neighbors and even other contractors often are curious to see inside homes in progress.