BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The man who recorded video of the Ahmaud Arbery shooting sat down with a reporter from our sister station Action News Jax on Sunday, saying that he and his fiancée are afraid for their lives.
Last week, after the murder arrests of two men in connection to the shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced William Roddie Bryan was also under investigation.
Action News Jax reporter Bridgette Matter spoke to Bryan in his home Sunday. Bryan said he and his family are now receiving death threats.
On February 23, Bryan recorded Ahmaud Arbery running in the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Brunswick. He also captured the confrontation with two men, the shooting and Arbery collapsing to the ground.
“Complete shock. I’ve never been involved in anything like that before,” Bryan said. “Complete shock.”
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The GBI said Bryan and his video are both currently part of the investigation.
The video, which was leaked more than two months after the shooting, prompted demonstrations across the country and the eventual arrest of Travis McMichael and Gregory McMichael, who are now charged in Arbery’s murder.
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“I am not feeling safe at all… I haven’t felt safe in at least 3 to 5 days now,” Bryan said. “Like Amy (Elrod, Bryan’s fiancée) has said, the threats have been real.”
The initial police report mentions Bryan, who was identified in the report as Roddy, saying, “'Roddy' attempted to block him, which was unsuccessful.”
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But Bryan denies being part of the confrontation that led to Arbery’s death.
“I had nothing to do with it. I’m trying to get my life back to normal, and it’s been smeared for the last week,” Bryan said. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”
Questions remain as to why Bryan was there and the reason he started recording. Bryan’s attorney, Kevin Gough, would not allow Bryan to answer, citing the pending investigation.
“My client was responding to what he saw, which was someone in the community he didn’t know being followed by a vehicle he recognized. Without going into details about the level of crime in this community in this subdivision, I think most people in this subdivision were aware that there were issues,” Gough said.
“He and his family are very scared,” Gough told our sister station WSB. “They are worried about their safety, they are worried about their property.”
They are now living in their car because of it.
“This is awful. The last few days since last Thursday. The threats that we’ve had against not only us, but our families, our neighbors,” Elrod told WSB.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t scared. If that’s what they wanted to do was scare me, they’ve scared me,” Bryan said.
Bryan’s fiancée said he also is worried about winding up in the local jail with the two accused of murder.
Elrod told WSB she feels for the Arbery family.
“Our hearts go out to them and just break for him,” Elrod said.
Atlanta community activist Marcus Coleman thinks Bryan should face charges.
"He is just as much of an accomplice," Coleman said.
Bryan's attorney said he was not part of the confrontation.
"He's been portrayed as a vigilante, which he is not," Gough said. "He was unarmed at the time of this."
The McMichaels suspected Arbery had broken into a home nearby that is under construction. WSB obtained a video that shows a man who appears to be Arbery entering the home. Authorities said the McMichaels, thinking he was a burglary suspect, pursued him.
Arbery was killed moments later.
Gough said people should be thanking his client.
"But for his action, there would be no evidence of this crime," Gough said.
Gough told WSB Bryan had lost his job since recording the video.
Bryan’s attorney expects the GBI to give them more information this week on whether he will remain under investigation.
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