Man who recorded Arbery killing gets 35 years in hate case

The man who recorded cellphone video of Ahmaud Arbery’s killing was sentenced Monday to 35 years in prison after his role in the fatal chase was deemed a federal hate crime.

A judge sentenced William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, in U.S. District Court nearly six months after a jury convicted Bryan and two other white men of violating Arbery’s civil rights, concluding the trio targeted Arbery because he was Black. Bryan was also convicted of attempted kidnapping.

Bryan was previously sentenced in a Georgia state court to life with a possibility of parole for Arbery’s murder.

Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves with guns chased 25-year-old Arbery after he ran past their home on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit and recorded cellphone video of McMichael blasting Arbery with a shotgun.

The McMichaels told police they suspected Arbery was a burglar. Investigators determined he was unarmed and had committed no crimes.

Earlier today, Greg and Travis McMichael were sentenced Monday to life in prison for committing a federal hate crime. U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood handed down the sentences against the McMichaels, reiterating the gravity of the killing that shattered their Brunswick community and became part of a larger national reckoning over racial injustice.

“A young man is dead. Ahmaud Arbery will be forever 25. And what happened a jury found happened because he’s Black,” Wood said.