Newly obtained bodycam footage of the moments right after a black jogger was gunned down in a Georgia subdivision by three white men seems to contradict the account one of the men has repeatedly claimed.
William “Roddie” Bryan videotaped Ahmaud Arbery’s death.
From the beginning, he has maintained he was only a witness to the horrific events that unfolded in February, but the new video obtained by Action News Jax appears to show he was an active participant.
In May, Bryan claimed he shot the initial video of Arbery’s death because he was a good Samaritan and wanted to document it. He said he wasn’t involved in the incident and that he was desperate to clear his name after receiving threats.
“I truthfully need to be cleared of this because I had nothing to do with it,” Bryan told Action News Jax at the time.
But in the new video footage, Bryan is seen telling a police officer at the scene that he tried to “block” Arbery as Gregory, and Travis McMichael chased the 25-year-old down.
“I hollered at them,” Bryan told authorities, according to police body camera footage. “I said, ‘Y’all got him.’ I pulled out of my driveway … was going to try to block him. I made a few moves at him. He didn’t stop,” Bryan said.
The video also shows officers tending to Arbery’s blood-soaked body lying in the street.
“He’s about to be 10-7, man,” one officer said — “out of service” in police code.
The video also shows Travis McMichael, the son of Gregory McMichael, tell a police officer that he chased Arbery in his pickup truck because he thought Arbery was behind a series of break-ins in their neighborhood.
“If he had stopped, this wouldn’t have happened,” Travis McMichael said. The McMichaels have been charged with murder and aggravated assault, while Bryan has been charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
All three have pleaded not guilty and will be behind bars until their trial.
Throughout the course of the investigation, Bryan has frustrated authorities by changing his story multiple times, giving different accounts of his role and of what happened.
Over the summer, his attorney Kevin Gough asked a judge for bail. “Roddie is struggling in there,” he said. “He’s not used to being in jail. He lost his house, his car, his job, and everything,” Gough said. “If he can get back out, he can reclaim his life.”
The judge denied Gough’s request.
