The man who captured the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery on video has been arrested and charged with murder.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of William Bryan on Thursday. He was charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Arbery was shot and killed on Feb. 23 while jogging in Brunswick, Ga. Father and son Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael were charged with murder earlier this month in connection to his death. The McMichaels have said that they trailed Arbery because they suspected him to be a burglar behind a string of alleged recent break-ins in the area.
Footage of Arbery’s final moments, taken by Bryan, was leaked in April, going viral and sparking outrage across the country that no arrests had yet been made.
Bryan has maintained his innocence since the investigation. He has claimed that he only became involved in the fatal altercation after the McMichaels began their pursuit of Arbery, 25, and had no communication with the father-son duo the day of Arbery’s death.
“If there was a lynch mob or posse, Mr. Bryan was unaware of it,” Kevin Gough, Bryan’s attorney, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Greg McMichael told police that Bryan had tried to block Arbery “but was unsuccessful,” according to the paper.
The arrest comes after an attorney representing the family of Arbery called for Bryan’s arrest on Monday.
Updated at 7:45 p.m.