Ahmaud Arbery Case: Sentencing in U.S. District Court for William “Roddie” Bryan convicted of federal hate crimes
AGN.News Team
August 8, 2022
BRUNSWICK (AGN.News) – William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, was a neighbor of convicted murderer, Greg McMichael, a former Glynn County police officer, who attacked Arbery carrying a .357 Magnum revolver.
Greg McMichael was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of federal hate crimes in U.S. District Court on February 22, 2022.
McMichael was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the hate-crime death of Arbery. Now, William “Roddie” Bryan, who joined in the pursuit and the related hate crimes was sentenced to 35 years in prison for his hate crimes.
On February 22, 2022, he was convicted of federal hate crimes for his role in the Feb. 23, 2020, murder of a 25-year-old Black man name Ahmaud Arbery. Today, justice was served for the hate crimes he committed against Ahmaud Arbery.
William “Roddie” Bryan speaks
Before being sentenced, William “Roddie” Bryan apologized to the Arbery family, saying he never intended for the 25-year-old Black man to be shot and killed.
“I’m glad to finally have the chance to address Mr. Arbery’s family and friends and say how sorry I am what happened that day,” said Bryan. “I pray everyday for his family that they do find peace.”
U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, who sentenced the McMichaels to life sentences, told Bryan his case was “distinguishable” from his two co-defendants. The McMichaels, Wood noted, got firearms before they started out in pursuit of Arbery.
Judge Wood said, “You didn’t bring a gun to the encounter — you didn’t fire a gun …”. She added that Bryan also turned over his cellphone video of the shooting, which became “crucial evidence.”
Ahmaud Arbery’s family speaks
Before Bryan was sentenced, Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, asked U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood to give Bryan the maximum punishment possible.
“You had time to think,” Marcus Arbery said of Bryan. “You were on your porch that day. … But all you seen was a Black man running down the street.”
Mr Arbery added, “If you wasn’t racist, you would have stayed out of it, hit 911 and tried to help my son.”
Wanda Cooper Jones, Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, told Wood that Bryan “made that decision, no one else did.”
She said her son was out for a jog that day and had not committed a crime. But Bryan “didn’t have a thought — let me help this young man. He got in his truck and helped corner him.”
Bryan will now be turned over to the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve his life with a possibility of parole after 30 years, while also serving his 35 year federal sentence.
If Bryan is granted parole by the Georgia state parole board after serving 30 years in prison, he would then be transferred to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to complete his 35 years. In the federal system, there is no parole, but could get 15% of their time removed for good behavior..
The men violated Ahmaud Arbery’s rights
William Bryan, like Greg McMichael and his son Travis targeted Arbery because he was Black. The jury also found the three men interfered with Arbery’s right to use a public street and attempted to kidnap Arbery in violation of his constitutional rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
“You failed your son,” Ruby Arbery, Arbery’s aunt, said. “You had him believing that what he did was above the law. … To Gregory, to put his child into doing something like that was a terrible thing. He took my nephew’s life.”
Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, said McMichael deserved the maximum punishment.
“I struggle to come to the realization that a father would actually accompany his son to take a life,” she said.
She added, “He’s still alive to communicate with his son between prison walls. But my son is gone forever.”
What exactly happened to Ahmaud Arbery?
On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was jogging through a Brunswick neighborhood in Glynn County, Georgia.
As he exited home under construction, three white men, Travis McMichael, armed with a shotgun, and his father, Gregory McMichael, armed with a handgun, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, in his truck and using his phone to video the chase, erroneously assumed he was a burglar. The two McMichaels who are now carrying guns, began chasing Arbery in their pickup truck (the son driving and the father in the bed of the truck).
What did the men do to Arbery?
The three white men pursued Arbery in their trucks for several minutes, using the vehicles to block his path as he tried to run away. Two of the men, Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, were armed and in one vehicle. Their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, was in another vehicle.
After overtaking Arbery, Travis McMichael exited his truck and assaulted Arbery with a shotgun. As Arbery attempted to defend himself, Travis McMichael shot him three times (twice in the chest), murdering him. Bryan recorded this confrontation and murder of Arbery on his cell phone.
Federal and state charges
It was reported that at the urging of Gregory McMichael, a local attorney provided Bryan’s video to local radio station WGIG, which published the video on May 5. The video went viral on YouTube and Twitter. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) arrested the McMichaels on May 7 and Bryan on May 21, charging them with felony murder and other crimes.
On June 24, 2020, a Cobb County grand jury indicted each of the three men on charges of malice murder, felony murder, and other crimes. Their trial began in November 2021 in the Glynn County Superior Court.
All three were convicted in Glynn County Superior Court on November 24, 2021 of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Travis McMichael was further convicted of malice murder.
On January 7, 2022, the McMichaels were sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole plus 20 years, with Bryan sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
On February 22, 2022, the three men were found guilty in a federal court of attempted kidnapping and the hate crime of interference with rights, while the McMichaels were also convicted of one count of using firearms during a crime of violence.
Today, August 8, 2022, the three men were sentenced in U.S. District Court before U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood. First, Travis McMichael, the man who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery was sentenced to life in prison for federal hate crimes convictions involving the 25-year-old’s slaying. There is also no parole in the federal prison system.
“You received a fair trial,” U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood told McMichael. “It was the kind of trial Ahmaud Arbery did not receive.”
His attorney waned Judge Wood to send him to federal prison and not state prison.
Wood denied the request to send McMichael into federal custody. She noted the state of Georgia was the first to arrest, try, convict and sentence McMichael for Arbery’s murder. When that is the case, defendants who are later convicted of federal crimes begin serving their time in state court, she said
Greg McMichael, addressing the court said. “I pray that God’s peace will come to the Arbery family and this entire community.”
McMichael, like his son, Travis and Bryan will now be turned over to the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve their sentences, since the state of Georgia was the first to try, convict, and sentence him for Arbery’s murder.
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