The murder of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery by a father and son in Brunswick, Georgia, has incited celebrities, lawmakers, and activists to call for justice. Now, a firestorm of controversy is brewing after a family member of the men charged with the deadly shooting posted a photo of Arbery’s dead body.
Former cop Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son, Travis McMichael, 34, have been charged with the
killing of Arbery. Lindsay McMichael, the assailants’ daughter and sister, admitted to posting a photo of Arbery’s lifeless body on Snapchat, according to The Sun. The picture depicted police tape with a graphic image of the victim’s blood-soaked body lying in the street.Lindsay told The Sun that she had no ill intent in sharing the graphic image on social media and went on to explain that her reasoning was because she’s a “fan of true crime.”
“I had no nefarious or malicious intent when I posted that picture,” she said to The Sun. “The thing is I’m a huge fan of true crime — I listen to four or five podcasts a week — I’m constantly watching that sort of thing. It was more of a ‘Holy s**t, I can’t believe this has happened.’ It was absolutely poor judgment.”
Lee Merritt, a lawyer representing the Arbery’s family, came forward and said it was “very disturbing” for Lindsay McMichael to post the picture. “It actually fits in with the pattern of the McMichael family engaging in a weird, violent form of voyeurism,” Merritt added, according to Business Insider.
Merritt went on to slam McMichael for her reckless actions. “It also highlights that
there are probably more video and more images of before, during and after Ahmaud’s murder—these images aren’t meant for public consumption in this way,” he explained to the Sun.”“First you have [Gregory] McMichael sharing with a news station a video of the murder then you have his daughter sharing an image of Ahmaud’s bullet-ridden body on Snapchat. It’s deeply disturbing behavior.”