Georgia man who recorded Ahmaud Arbery shooting video arrested for murder

William 'Roddie' Bryan, 50, was arrested on charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment

May 21, 2020

Left to right: William "Roddie" Bryan and Ahmaud Arbery, who was fatally shot while jogging in a predominantly white neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia. (Photo: CNN)

The man who recorded Ahmaud Arbery‘s fatal shooting in Brunswick, Georgia has been arrested and charged in the 25-year-old’s death, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday.

William “Roddie” Bryan, 50, was arrested on charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment, the Associated Press reports.

Arbery was shot on Feb 23 while jogging in a predominantly white neighborhood after an armed father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, pursued him in their truck.

It took two months before authorities arrested Gregory McMichael, a former police officer in the town, and his son, Travis. Both were charged with felony murder and aggravated assault.

Bryan, who lives in the same subdivision as the McMichaels, recorded the video of Arbery’s shooting from the cab of his vehicle. The leaking of the video ultimately led to the McMichaels’ arrests.

Bryan’s arrest comes days after Arbery’s family attorney S. Lee Merritt called for him to be charged.

“We are going to continue to push for the arrest of William Bryan for recording and participating in the ambush of Ahmaud Arbery,” Merritt told CNN’s Don Lemon.

As the McMichaels chased Arbery down in their truck, Bryan began filming the incident and even got in his own vehicle to follow the unarmed Black man. After calls for his arrest were made, Bryan’s attorney Kevin Gough claimed he voluntarily took a polygraph test that showed he was not involved and was not armed at the time of the incident.

“Mr. Bryan is not your enemy,” Gough said. “Please stop, if not for the sake of my client’s family, then for the sake of the Arbery family and the cause you fight for.”

“Killing off the star witness for the prosecution will not help bring Ahmaud’s killers to justice,” he added.

Merritt, the attorney for Arbery’s family, however, demanded that everyone involved in Ahmaud’s murder to be brought to justice. “His family deserves justice from not only the two men who have been arrested, but from anyone who participated in that act,” Merritt said.

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