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Ahmaud Arbery family attorney says new videos show pattern of mistreatment for color of his skin

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — There are new calls for justice from local civil rights leaders after another video emerged of Ahmaud Arbery.

The new video is 2017 body camera footage that shows Arbery being questioned after officers found him parked in the grass at a Glynn County park.

Attorneys for the Arbery family say the videos show a pattern of unfair treatment against him.

[SPECIAL SECTION: Ahmaud Arbery shooting investigation]

The Videos:

In the Nov. 7, 2017 video, an officer pulled up to Arbery’s parked car and asked what he was doing and for his I.D.

Arbery complied and handed his license over to the officer. He became upset as he waited and asked the officer why he was bothering him.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here. Because this area is known for drug activity," the officer said.

The body camera video shows Arbery cursing at the officer, who called for backup. The officer checked Arbery for weapons, but did not find anything. The following exchange happened next:

  • Officer: “You’re coming up on me and making me kind of nervous."
  • Arbery: “You bothering me for nothing. I work at Blue Beacon, bro."
  • Officer: “I’m not here to ruin your day. I’m here to look for any kind of criminal activity. That’s all I’m doing"
  • Arbery: “Criminal activity? I’m in a [expletive] park! What the [expletive] you talking about? I work. Call my job right now."

The officer starts to look at Arbery’s car, which Arbery tries to stop, when a second officer arrives. Arbery heads to his car when the second officer tells him to stop.

The second officer pulled out a stun gun as Arbery reached for his pocket and both officers order him to get on the ground. Arbery and the officers seem to calm down and the first officer asks again to check his car.

On his knees, Arbery says: “So in the park chilling, then, that’s a crime?”

“Well, when it’s way back here...it’s just kind of weird,” one of the officers replies on the body camera footage. “We don’t see cars sitting out here that often.”

The officer hands Arbery back his suspended license and lets him go. You can watch the full body camera video below or click here.

WARNING: This is the unedited, raw body camera footage from 2017. It contains strong language.

Attorneys and civil rights leaders react to the video

Channel 2’s Tom Jones attended the news conference Tuesday where attorneys and local civil rights leaders spoke about the case.

The attorney for Arbery’s mother said the 2017 video showed unfair treatment.

“The same reason that Ahmaud Arbery was killed was the same reason he was stopped in that park. It was the criminalization of blackness itself," S. Lee Merritt said.

At the news conference, leaders said Arbery’s shooting and the mishandling of the case is shining an awful light on the state. They said that racial and police violence happens too often in Georgia.

“This is the standard practice in Georgia,” said Gerald Griggs with Atlanta NAACP.

The Atlanta NAACP is calling for investigations into how cases are handled when it comes to African-Americans.

Police also released video Tuesday of Arbery being arrested a month later outside a Brunswick Walmart store. The video shows Arbery being ordered to lie face-down as police arrest him on shoplifting charges.

Arbery pleaded guilty to trying to steal a television and was sentenced to five years on probation, according to court records.

You can watch the body camera video below or click here.

WARNING: This video contains explicit language.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.