Man who filmed his two white neighbors shooting and killing Ahmaud Arbery is pictured in a mugshot after being arrested
THE mugshot of the man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery getting shot in Georgia earlier this year shows him after he was arrested on Thursday.
William “Roddie” Bryan Jr, 50, was booked on charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment for filming the in February.
Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son, Travis McMichael, 34, were charged earlier this month felony murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s shooting death.
Director Vic Reynolds said on Friday that Bryan was not just a “witness” to Arbery’s death.
“If he was a witness ,” Reynolds told reporters during a news conference.
“We believe his underlying felony helped cause the death of Ahmaud Arbery,’ the director said, adding the GBI is “confident [prosecutors] will be able to prove that.”
Reynolds said the GBI has found more video footage of the shooting, which will be used when the case goes to trial.
Bryan’s attorney, Kevin Hough, that Bryan took a lie detector test on Tuesday.
He said the test is not considered admissible in court, but shows that Bryan was unarmed during the shooting of Arbery on February 23.
The , his neighbors, before that day and “was not privy to any plan to take a life.”
Gough described Bryan as a witness, not a “vigilante.”
Arbery, 25, was jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of , earlier this year .
No arrests were made until May 7, after the video was widely shared on social media, pushing it into the national spotlight and prompting widespread outrage.
Gregory McMichael, .
A friend of the McMichaels, Alan Tucker, because he was trying “to stop a riot.”
Tucker he released the video, which was taken by another friend, William Bryan, who was following in his own car to film what was happening.
“Well, you saw what happened to Baltimore, you’ve seen what happened to Charleston, you saw what happened to Ferguson. I was trying to stop a riot,” he said.
The investigation led by local authorities had seemed to be stalled and, amid the national uproar, a prosecutor specially appointed last month asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to get involved.
The McMichaels had told police they pursued Arbery after spotting him running in their neighborhood, according to the initial police report.
They said they thought Arbery matched the description of someone caught on a security camera committing recent break-ins in the area.
Gregory McMichael had previously worked as a police officer with Glynn County and retired from working as an investigator with Brunswick district attorney’s office in 2019.
The shooting has fueled fierce debate over the 25-year-old’s death, leading people to claim the act was racially motivated.
Arbery’s family said in a statement they .
“We want anyone who participated in the murder of Mr Arbery to be held accountable.”