A white woman whose brother and father have been charged with murdering black jogger Ahmaud Arbery insists the pair are not racist and says the killing ‘was not a lynching’.
Lindsay McMichael, 30, was inside in her pajamas when her father Gregory, 64, and brother Travis, 34, shot and killed Arbery, 25, down the road from their Brunswick, Georgia home on February 23.
Lindsay told The Sun on Saturday that she does not believe Arbery’s slaying was racially motivated, claiming that her father and brother have ‘loved’ all her non-white boyfriends.
‘I have never dated anyone of the same race since I was 19 years old and my father and my brother have loved every person that I’ve ever dated like they were their own son or brother.
‘These are people that I have brought home, that my sweet mama has cooked for and given everything to’.
Lindsay continued: ‘They’re not monsters. This wasn’t a lynching. Do I think mistakes were made? Absolutely, but look back on your life how many mistakes have you made?’
Lindsay McMichael is speaking out for the first time after her father, Gregory, and brother, Travis, were charged with murder over the February 23 shooting of black jogger Ahmaud Arbery
![Gregory McMichael](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/16/13/28465602-8326053-image-m-5_1589631147389.jpg)
![Travis McMichael](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/16/13/28465600-8326053-image-a-6_1589631156727.jpg)
Gregory McMichael (left) and Travis McMichael are pictured. Lindsay McMichael insists the pair are not racist, and says the February 23 shooting of Arbery was not a ‘lynching’
![Arbery, 25, was killed while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia. Travis and Gregory McMichael trailed him in their pick-up truck, allegedly believing he was responsible for a spate of robberies in the neighborhood](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/16/16/28470762-8326369-image-a-3_1589644541371.jpg)
Arbery, 25, was killed while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia. Travis and Gregory McMichael trailed him in their pick-up truck, allegedly believing he was responsible for a spate of robberies in the neighborhood
Gregory and Travis trailed Ahmaud Arbery in their white pick-up truck on February 23, before shooting him. The pair allege they thought Arbery was responsible for robberies in their neighborhood.
Lindsay says she rushed outside when she heard gunshots down the street, and recalled the harrowing scene in her interview with The Sun.
‘I ran out to see what was going on…I had no idea. There was a firefighter I knew so I made a beeline to him and asked, ‘Are my father and brother okay?’ and he said yes.’
Linday says she saw Travis’ clothes splattered with Arbery’s blood, and saw terror in his face.
‘I’ve seen my brother in his happiest moments – I was there when his child was born and I’ve seen him in distress and I know that look… it wasn’t like some glory thing, like ‘I stalked and then got the kill that I was hoping for’.
‘It was absolute f***king panic… I really do believe that things just escalated so fast.’
‘I don’t think it was vigilante justice. Travis had a weapon stolen. My mom’s car had been rifled through. I think they just thought ‘Let’s apprehend this guy’.’
![Video footage which showed Gregory and Travis embroiled in a scuffle with Arbery before they fatally shot him sparked national outrage after it was published on social media earlier this month](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/16/13/28465662-8326053-image-a-7_1589631180676.jpg)
Video footage which showed Gregory and Travis embroiled in a scuffle with Arbery before they fatally shot him sparked national outrage after it was published on social media earlier this month
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/16/18/28270036-8326369-image-m-7_1589650845242.jpg)
A map showing the February 23 encounter between Arbery and the McMichaels. Lindsay McMichael ran down the street to the scene of the fatal shooting just after it occurred
Video footage which showed Gregory and Travis embroiled in a scuffle with Arbery before they fatally shot him sparked national outrage after it was published on social media earlier this month.
Racial tensions in Georgia are running high in the aftermath of murder charges which were filed against Gregory and Travis last week.
Lindsay called for calm in her interview with The Sun, stating: ‘Here in the country of the United States, it is innocent until proven guilty’.
‘I get it that people are angry. But let it all [the complete evidence] come out, please, for the love of God and then we’ll figure things out after that.
‘If things were done that were nefarious or wrong, fine, but let it come out first.’
Linday says that both she and her 61-year-old mom have been subject to violent threats.
Anonymous people have allegedly threatened to ‘murder and rape’ the pair.
‘We’re not not the ones on trial here – my dad and my brother are,’ she stated.
———————————————————————————————————————
Gregory McMichael ‘orchestrated release of video showing fatal shooting Ahmaud Arbery’
The ex-cop who appeared on video with his son where one of them shot dead Ahmaud Arbery leaked the video of the 25-year-old jogger’s last moments because ‘he thought it would exonerate him’.
Brunswick attorney Alan Tucker – who made headlines when he revealed himself to be the one who released the video of the February 23 killing – claimed Greg McMichael wanted to use the video to clear up rumors circulating in the community after the shooting.
Tucker, who said his parents live in the Satilla Shores area in Georgia where the shooting occurred, also hoped the video would ease racial tension in the community.
‘I didn’t want the neighborhood to become a Ferguson,’ Tucker explained to WSB-TV.
Tucker said that Greg McMichael had brought the video, along with others, to his office beacause he wanted help to get them to a talk show host at a local Brunswick radio station.
The older McMichael went to the lawyer as a friend and not as a potential client, the attorney said.
Tucker told the local station that the ‘young man (Arbery) did not deserve to be shot’ but would not comment on the charges brought against his friend or Travis McMichael.
![Brunswick attorney Alan Tucker said that he helped release the video because he 'didn't want the neighborhood to become a Ferguson'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/16/13/28465608-8326053-Brunswick_attorney_Alan_Tucker_said_that_he_helped_release_the_v-a-1_1589632678839.jpg)
Brunswick attorney Alan Tucker said that he helped release the video because he ‘didn’t want the neighborhood to become a Ferguson’
![Exclusive photos show the moment Gregory McMichael (pictured) and his son Travis McMichael were arrested at their home in Brunswick, Georgia, on Thursday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/13/19/28141556-8315531-Exclusive_photos_show_the_moment_Gregory_McMichael_pictured_and_-a-26_1589393210886.jpg)
Exclusive photos show the moment Gregory McMichael (pictured) and his son Travis McMichael were arrested at their home in Brunswick, Georgia, on Thursday
![An officer with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is seen leading 34-year-old Travis McMichael out of the home in handcuff](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/16/17/28141548-8326369-An_officer_with_the_Georgia_Bureau_of_Investigation_is_seen_lead-a-12_1589646795397.jpg)
An officer with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is seen leading 34-year-old Travis McMichael out of the home in handcuff
Tucker told the local station that the ‘young man (Arbery) did not deserve to be shot’ but would not comment on the charges brought up against his friend or Travis McMichael.
‘There was no reason in the world for Travis to pull a shotgun out of a damn truck. None,’ Tucker added.
But in an interview with Inside Edition, earlier in the month, Tucker was singing a different tune.
‘I really thought releasing the video would put the truth out to the public,’ Tucker stated.
‘If he [Arbery] had just froze and hadn’t done anything, then he wouldn’t have been shot.’
The elder McMichael told police he suspected Arbery was responsible for recent break-ins in the neighborhood. Local police have said there have been no break-ins in the area for the last couple of months.
The video fueled a national outcry not just over the killing but also that more than two months passed before arrests were made.
L. Chris Stewart, an attorney representing Arbery’s family, derided the older McMichael for having possession of the video.
‘He had that tape by himself. He delivered it. We have questions about the length of it,’ the lawyer said.
He later added: ‘I have no doubt that Mr. McMichael and his son believe what he did was OK. It just wasn’t. Travis never should have gotten that shotgun. That is significant.’