Bodycam shows William ‘Roddie’ Bryan told police he repeatedly tried to block Ahmaud Arbery with car
Bryan told a police officer that he yelled at the McMichael's and wanted to know if they 'got' Ahmaud Arbery
William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. has long claimed that he had no involvement in the death of Ahmaud Arbery but newly released bodycam footage has revealed otherwise. He admitted to police that he repeatedly tried to block Arbery with his car.
On Monday, News Jax exclusively obtained the body camera footage of a police officer who interviewed Bryan after Arbery, an unarmed Black man, was fatally shot in February. As theGrio reported, Arbery was chased by Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia in February. The McMichael’s, who are white, believed he was burglarizing homes in the area. Travis ultimately followed, cornered and then shot and killed Arbery, 25.
Read More: Prosecutors play Ahmaud Arbery suspect’s voicemail seeking DA’s help in court
Bryan filmed the video of Arbery’s killing which went viral and led to the arrests of the McMichael’s who have been jailed since May for felony murder. Roddie was also charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
The police body camera footage suggested he was actively involved in Arbery’s death despite previous denials.
“Okay, so you’re a passerby coming through?” an officer asked as the video began.
“Nah, not necessarily,” Bryan replied.
Bryan told the officer that he saw Arbery running from the McMichaels and says he suspected he was trying to break into homes in the upscale neighborhood. He asked the father and son duo if they had “got” Abrery who they were pursuing in their truck.
Read More: Prosecutor reads racist messages by Ahmaud Arbery’s killer
“When I see him, I knew, hate that people were getting broken into out here, you know. So, I hollered at them and said, ‘Y’all got him?’ And he just kept running. He was full-blown running,” Bryan said to police.
He continued, “… They got down to the end down there somewhere, must’ve past him. Because I pulled out of my driveway, was going to try to block him. But he was going all around. I made a few moves at him, you know. And he didn’t stop.”
However, Bryan told Action News Jax in May that his name needed to be cleared of any wrongdoing.
“I truthfully need to be cleared of this because I had nothing to do with it,” Bryan said at the time.
The bodycam footage is another turn in a case that gained national prominence after a New York Times report. As more information emerged and the father and son were arrested, Arbery became linked with the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor which caused global protests over the summer.
Prosecutors have charged that racism played a factor in Arbery’s death. As theGrio reported in November, racist text messages from Travis were read in court, and evidence was produced that he called Arbery a racial slur before shooting him three times.
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