ATLANTA — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has arrested the man who recorded cellphone video of Ahmaud Arbery being shot and killed.
William “Roddie” Bryan, 50, 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.
In a news release, the GBI said it charged Bryan with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
The video Bryan shot 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 suggestions 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 fiancée went into hiding after receiving death threats over his ties to the case.
Attorneys for the Arbery family released a statement after the third arrest saying they were 'relieved to learn that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has today taken William ‘Roddie’ Bryan into custody.... The family of Mr. Arbery is thankful for the diligence of the GBI and they way in which they tirelessly pursued the evidence in this case. We want anyone who participated in the murder of Mr. Arbery to be held accountable."
The GBI said Bryan will be booked into the Glynn County Jail. A news conference with the GBI is expected Friday morning at 9 a.m. We’ll carry it live on Channel 2 Action News.
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