BRUNSWICK, Ga. — During a late-night news conference, the attorney for the man who recorded the deadly shooting of Ahmaud Arbery pleaded with the attorneys for the victim’s family to pull back on the threats because his client was getting death threats and feared for his safety.
William “Roddie” Bryan shot the video that showed what appears to be Gregory and Travis McMichael shooting and killing Ahmaud Arbery while he was out jogging in February.
The video was leaked earlier this month, sparking outrage and the eventual arrest of the McMichaels on murder charges in Arbery’s death.
The attorneys for Arbery said they believe that Bryan had a hand in Arbery’s murder.
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“Right now, we know that he recorded this video from a very close proximity. According to his attorney, he was home one minute and within minutes, he was behind Ahmaud Arbery with his cellphone, recording his ambush,” Arbery family attorney Lee Merritt said during an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show Monday. “His response to this very loud, violent shotgun shots repeatedly, and someone being murdered in front of him, was silence. He just kept recording. You didn’t hear him gasp. He didn’t cut off the camera. He didn’t intervene. He didn’t honk his horn. And we believe that is because he knew what was about to happen, and he played a role in it.”
During the news conference Monday night, Bryan’s attorney, Kevin Gough, asked Merritt and his co-counsel to stop with the suggestion that his client had anything to do with Arbery’s killing.
“I do not know whether you have heard my pleas or whether you chose to ignore them, so I will try again. Mr. Bryan is not your enemy. My plea is this: please stop. Please stop doing and saying things that place the lives of Roddie and his family in danger. Whether you realize it or not, y’all have put a target on his back,” Gough said.
The attorney went on to say that Bryan and his fiancé have gone into hiding after receiving death threats over his ties to the case.
As of now, Bryan has not been charged with any crime.
Gough said Bryan and his fiancé had both lost their jobs since the video was leaked. Gough also said his client had taken a lie detector test but would not release the results of that test, leaving it up to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to release that information if they wanted.
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