Man who filmed shooting of Ahmaud Arbery charged with murder

[Cosmo_ac]

Here is a link to the article and the article text itself.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/man-who-filmed-shooting-of-ahmaud-arbery-charged-with-murder/ar-BB14qTOy?ocid=spartan-ntp-feeds

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A third person has been charged in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) on Thursday said it arrested William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., 50, on charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Bryan is expected to face a judge in magistrate court Friday afternoon.

Bryan took the viral cellphone footage depicting the chase and killing of Arbery, 25, on Feb. 23 in Glynn County.
On May 7, Gregory and Travis McMichael were arrested and charged with Arbery's murder.

Bryan is booked into the Glynn County Jail and will be prosecuted by Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes, GBI said.
Two district attorneys, Jackie Johnson and George Barnill, are under investigation after they recused themselves from Arbery's case. A third district attorney, Tom Durden, brought GBI into the case on May 5.

GBI Director Vic Reynolds thanked the Arbery family for their patience at a press conference on Friday morning.

An initial police report noted Bryan tried unsuccessfully to block Arbery, who was jogging in the neighborhood when confronted.
The 28-second video showed Arbery jogging as Travis McMichael, 34, stood outside of a white pickup truck armed with a shotgun and Gregory McMichael, 64, a former police officer, stood in the truck's open flatbed trunk holding a. 357 magnum.
The video shows Arbery and Travis McMichael tussling with the shotgun before three shots are fired. Arbery stumbled and fell to the ground, where he was pronounced dead.

The attorneys for Arbery's mother and father said the family was "relieved" to learn of Bryan's arrest.
"We called for his arrest from the very beginning of this process. His involvement in the murder of Mr. Arbery was obvious to us, to many around the country and after their thorough investigation, it was clear to the GBI as well," the attorneys, S. Lee Merritt, Benjamin Crump and L. Chris Stewart, said in a statement.

"The family of Mr. Arbery is thankful for the diligence of the GBI and the way in which they tirelessly pursued the evidence in this case,' they added. "We want anyone who participated in the murder of Mr. Arbery to be held accountable."

ABC News has reached out to Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, for comment. He said in a press conference earlier this week that his client was receiving death threats due to the video and feared going to work.

"Without his video there would be no case," Gough said Monday.

"Ya’ll have put a target on his back," he added, referring to the media.
On Monday, Gough also said that Bryan was unarmed at the time of the shooting and "was not in communication with Gregory or Travis McMichael, or anyone else, during that timeframe."

ABC News' Brandon Baur and Matt Foster contributed to this report.

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Now, I admit, there could be facts here I'm unaware of, and I don't want to take anything away from the horrible tragedy which is Arbery's killing, but this is just bullshit.

The family should be thankful that he recorded the video, not blaming him for Arbery's death.  I'm sorry, but a bystander should not be compelled by law or other reasons to insert themselves into a dangerous situation.  Hell, this is one of the main reasons Arbery was killed, two people took it upon themselves to "arrest a thief" instead of letting law professionals do their job.

Second, I really don't like the precedent this might set for other people who record a crime.  If I recorded a murder, I'd be hesitant as fuck to come forward knowing I could be charged with that murder.  Part of me has to wonder if this is law enforcements way of silencing people that give them a preverbial black eye.

[Callie Del Noire]

I dunno.. he was not the one that turned out the video but I don’t think things are clear enough for me to make a decision on it. Truthfully the waters were pretty muddy till the video came out.

I honestly think the feds need to investigate the entire investigation process. It all stinks

[Beguile's Mistress]

There is a line in the article that states the videographer tried to block Arbery as he was jogging before he encountered the McMichaels'.  If that is true Bryan's actions may have been a contributing factor.

I'm not sure he wasn't part of the encounter.  The father and son had time to go home and get weapons so it is possible that Bryan could have met up with them and the video was staged.

For a while I thought the video was a coincidental thing and was submitted as an attempt to support Mr. McMichaels and his son.  In any case, the investigation will continue as more evidence is gathered to support prosecution.

[Oniya]

An initial police report noted Bryan tried unsuccessfully to block Arbery, who was jogging in the neighborhood when confronted.

So what this sentence says is that the guy that filmed the video tried to keep the victim from leaving the area.  Didn't call the cops on that cellphone, either.

This article states that Bryan actually engaged in the chase, with the block attempt occurring after Arbery ran around McMichael's truck.  That is, in fact, an attempt to commit false imprisonment.  The fact that Mr. Arbery died during this attempted false imprisonment (which is a form of kidnapping) elevates it to felony murder.

[Cosmo_ac]

Ok, so this is giving me some info that the articles I've read didn't, and filling in a few missing pieces.  I'll be interested in seeing what else comes to light.

[Callie Del Noire]

So what this sentence says is that the guy that filmed the video tried to keep the victim from leaving the area.  Didn't call the cops on that cellphone, either.

This article states that Bryan actually engaged in the chase, with the block attempt occurring after Arbery ran around McMichael's truck.  That is, in fact, an attempt to commit false imprisonment.  The fact that Mr. Arbery died during this attempted false imprisonment (which is a form of kidnapping) elevates it to felony murder.

Thanks for the clarification Oni

[Aiden]

Good throw the book at these racist pieces of shit.

It is time to make Racism wrong again.


This is modern-day launching and the people making excuses for these assholes is disgusting.

[Beguile's Mistress]

According to the report just given on NBC Nightly News Bryan attempted multiple times to block Arbery with the intention of confining and detaining him as he jogged along his route thereby giving the McMichaels' the opportunity to interfere with him.  He was charged with criminal intent to commit false imprisonment and because that is a felony it also implicated him in the murder of Arbery.

[Oniya]

Thanks for the clarification Oni

Yeah, 'felony murder' (while subject to the same penalties) is a slightly different charge that comes into effect when a specific sort of felony that is inherently dangerous to human life is being committed.  This is why the getaway driver of a bank robbery can be charged with it, even if they were in the car when the guard got shot. 

The idea is to make people think twice about helping their buddies commit potentially lethal crimes by taking away the 'but I was only driving' excuse.

[Beguile's Mistress]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/investigators-say-man-who-filmed-arberys-killing-was-more-than-a-witness/ar-BB14tM8O?ocid=spartandhp

This article give a lot of detailed information and explanation of the charges.