The disturbing video of Ahmaud Arbery's shooting death was leaked to the media by a friend of the alleged murderers, according to newly published reports.
Georgia attorney Alan Tucker told the New York Times he obtained the footage from the man, identified as William Bryan, who captured the incident on his cellphone. Tucker said he then sent the video to a local radio station with the intention of preventing upheaval.
"I was trying to stop a riot," Tucker told Inside Edition, before referencing previous demonstrations sparked by the fatal shootings of black men. "Well, you saw what happened to Baltimore, you've seen what happened to Charleston, you saw what happened to Ferguson. I was trying to stop a riot."
Tucker told the Times he was simply trying to let the public see what exactly happened and dispel rumors about the Gregory and Travis McMichael, the father and son who have been charged in Arbery's murder.
"It wasn’t two men with a Confederate flag in the back of a truck going down the road and shooting a jogger in the back," Tucker said. "It got the truth out there as to what you could see. My purpose was not to exonerate them or convict them."
The video surfaced online this week, about two months after Arbery was killed while jogging in a residential area of Georgia. Gregory McMichael, a former police officer, told authorities he and his son believed Arbery was a burglary suspect and decided to arm themselves before pursuing him in a truck. The footage shows Travis McMichael get into a physical altercation with 25-year-old Arbery before multiple shots were fired. Arbery is then seen falling to the ground, as Gregory McMichael watches from the bed of the truck.
"The video speaks for itself," Tucker told Inside Edition. "What happened, happened. I don't have an excuse for it. I can't explain. Other than, we always say, 'What if he had just froze and hadn't done anything, he wouldn't have gotten shot,'" he explained.
Glynn County Police Lt. Cheri Bashlor told CNN on Friday that there were no reports of a burglary at the time of Arbery's death. The last known burglary prior to the shooting was on Jan. 1.
Tucker confirmed he had consulted with the McMichaels during the investigation; however, he declined to tell the Times what was discussed, citing "attorney-client privilege."
"I’m not going to tell you what I told them or what they told me," he said.
The attorney went on to say he was not representing the McMichaels or anyone else involved in the case.
The McMichaels were arrested Friday on aggravated assault and murder charges.
