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The mother of murder victim Ahmaud Arbery has hit out at the man who filmed her son's shooting - telling Dr. Phil she wants those responsible 'prosecuted to the highest'. 

In an interview due to be aired on CBS tomorrow, the host speaks with Arbery’s heartbroken mother, Wanda Cooper who says she believes three people were involved in the murder of her son in Satilla Shores, Georgia. 

Dr Phil asks Cooper: 'This is your baby boy. And you've made it very clear you feel that he was hunted down, boxed in like an animal, and then shot to death. What do you want to see happen to these men. What does justice look like to you?'

'I want all hands that were involved, to be prosecuted to the highest,' Cooper replies. 

When asked whether she thinks three people were involved, she says 'that is correct'. 

William 'Roddie' Bryan - a neighbor of the father and son who killed Arbery - was pictured Friday for the first time since his cellphone footage exposing the brutal slaying of the innocent jogger was leaked this week, as his lawyer protested his innocence. 

Pictured: William 'Roddie' Bryan, a neighbor of the father and son who killed Ahmaud Arbery, who filmed the murder in Satilla Shores, Georgia 

Gregory (left) and Travis McMichael (right) have both been charged with murder and aggravated assault over the February 23 shooting of Ahmaud Arbery

Bryan finally broke his silence over the murder of the black jogger at the hands of the white ex-cop Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, claiming he was only a 'witness' and not an accomplice to the shocking attack.  

Dr Phil asks whether she believes Bryan was in on the murder. 

'I strongly believe that he was involved', she replies. 'I mean, he videoed it.' 

Bryan's attorney Kevin Gough denied claims his client was armed at the time of the killing but insisted he is 'not a vigilante'.  

Bryan claimed there had been a 'number of crimes in the neighborhood in recent weeks - despite cops saying there were no burglaries reported in the two months leading up to the young man's murder.       

Gough also said the shooting simply 'start[ed] happening in front of him' and Bryan had handed over the footage to police 'immediately' after the incident.   

The father and son shooters were arrested last week and charged with murder and aggravated assault for the death of Arbery, who would have been 26 last Friday, in Brunswick, Georgia, back in February.  

Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) Vic Reynolds said Friday that Bryan could also be arrested for his part in the murder after he watched and shot the footage of the attack. 

Gough told Weekend TODAY Bryan had arrived at the scene after he saw Arbery running through the neighborhood and being pursued by the McMichaels in their truck.  

'He was in his yard and this just starts happening in front of him,' said Gough. 'He gets in his car and is trying to document that.'  

Ahmaud Arbery, pictured, was killed February 23; a white father and son told police they pursued him in their truck because they suspected him of being a burglar

When asked why Bryan followed and filmed the attack, his attorney said 'he was trying to get [Arbery's] picture... because there had been a number of crimes in this neighborhood and he didn't recognize him and a vehicle that he did recognize was following him.' 

However, Glynn County Police Lt. Cheri Bashlor confirmed Friday that no burglaries had been reported in the neighborhood in the seven weeks leading up to Arbery's death.  

Bashlor told CNN there had only been one incident reported back on January 1, when someone had stolen a firearm from an unlocked truck outside the McMichaels’ home.   

Claims of Bryan's innocence also contradict a memo from one of the former district attorneys on the case which said Bryan had joined in the pursuit of the innocent jogger. 

Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George E. Barnhill said in the memo, obtained by USA Today, that all three men had been in 'hot pursuit of a burglary suspect'.  

Gough released a statement to reporters Friday afternoon, while Bryan stood by his side, in which he also protested his client's innocence, insisting he was simply a 'witness to the tragic shooting and death of Ahmaud Arbery'. 

'From day one Mr Bryan has fully cooperated with law enforcement officers investigating this matter,' he said in the First Coast News footage. 

Gough said Bryan handed the cellphone footage to police as soon as officers arrived on the scene. 

Bryan 'disclosed the existence of the videotape and invited a responding Glynn County police officer to sit with him in his truck where they watched the video together,' Gough said. 

'Mr Bryan went home and came back out to the crime scene shortly after at the request of law enforcement to further assist them and then later Mr Bryan voluntarily went to the Glynn County Police Department where he answered all the questions they had for him without a lawyer during a lengthy interview.'

Gough branded reports that Bryan had a firearm with him when he arrived on the scene 'irresponsible' and insisted he was 'unarmed'.   

He said the 'family man' 'does not understand' why he is being investigated over the shooting.

'Despite his cooperation and for reasons he does not understand Mr Bryan has learned the family and apparently their lawyers are demanding he be arrested,' said Gough.  

'He is not and never has been a vigilante.' 

Ahmaud Arbery and his mother Wanda Cooper Jones. Bryan may also face arrest for his part in the murder after he watched and shot the footage of the attack, authorities said Friday

His attorney said Bryan had only learned he was under investigation during the GBI press conference Friday.

'Mr Bryan had never been advised by any prosecutor or law enforcement officer that he was a target of investigation into Mr Abery's death until the GBI announced it this morning in a press conference,' he said. 

Gough said Bryan and his family have since become the target of 'threats' and he has lost his job.

'Mr Bryan, his fiancee, his children, his siblings and other family members, friends and neighbors now live in fear despite the fact that Mr Bryan has committed no crime and fully cooperated with the investigation into the shooting,' the attorney said.   

AHMAUD ARBERY'S HEARTBROKEN MOM SAYS SHE HOPES HER SON'S KILLERS SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIVES BEHIND BARS

 

Ahmaud Arbery’s heartbroken mom has said she hopes her son's killers spend the rest of their lives behind bars and revealed he was born on Mother's Day in 1994 so this weekend will be 'especially hard' without him. 

Wanda Cooper spoke out over her son's brutal slaying on what would have been his 26th birthday and slammed law enforcement for failing to bring his killers to justice for months.  

‘Today was a very emotional day as it was his birthday,’ she told CNN Tonight Friday.

‘I felt better after the arrests last evening. But the weekend is going to be especially hard as I had Ahmaud back in 1994 on Mother’s Day.’ 

Cooper blasted the authorities for letting her son's killers walk free for a staggering 74 days after his death, saying they simply took the 'words from the actual murderers'.

‘I think that they were actually taking the words from the actual murderers,' she told CNN.

'They took their word, they believed what they said and they had not planned to make an arrest.’

Cooper said thanked the public for their support and said she hopes justice will now be served. 

'What I’m seeking is those guys - all the guys who were involved in the murder of my son - go to prison possibly for the rest of their lives,' she said. 

The family's attorney Lee Merritt also called for justice to also be handed to the district attorneys who failed to prosecute the killers. 

'We have to get those DAs out that made a decision not to prosecute the case - we have to go after them,' he said.

Merritt said it was only through public pressure that the McMichaels had finally faced murder charges. 

'The video already existed, it was part of the investigation… it was the public seeing the video and allowing us to add common sense to it and raise our voice and demand these men be arrested' that led to action, he said. 

'We have been asking the DA's office for this video for months since this happened and we were not given a copy of it,' he added.  

The Brunswick DA's office has come under fire for its handling of the case.

The first two DA's recused themselves from the case and the third passed it onto a grand jury before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) stepped in and took over the investigation - leading to the subsequent arrests of the McMichaels.  

In a press conference Friday, GBI Director Reynolds would not rule out the possibility of Bryan being arrested and charged in connection to Arbery's murder.  

'Is there anyone else going to be charged in this case?' Reynolds said the community was asking him. 

'I tell you that this is an active, ongoing case and investigation. If the facts take [officers] to make another arrest then they will do that.' 

When pressed if this means Bryan will face charges over Arbery's death, Reynolds said: 'Don't know yet – we'll go wherever the evidence takes us. If there is probable cause for arrest, we'll do it. If there isn't, we won't.' 

He added that Bryan's video of the fatal confrontation, which took place on February 23, was a key piece of evidence. 

Authorities are 'investigating everyone involved in the case including the individual who shot that video,' he added.

It is not yet clear what Bryan - who lives just a few houses away from the McMichaels, close to where the killing took place - could be charged with.  

DailyMail.com has reached out to the GBI for comment about Bryan's involvement and any potential charges he faces.  

Ben Crump, an attorney for the victim's family, called for Bryan's arrest for aiding and abetting the McMichaels in Arbery's murder. 

'This is William 'Roddie' Bryan – who we believe may have been the third person in pursuit of #AhmaudArbery. If he chased down Ahmaud and filmed his execution, he should be arrested and charged with aiding and abetting them in committing this crime of murder. #RunWithMaud,' Crump wrote in a Twitter post Thursday.

The attorney who leaked the footage shot by Bryan to the press revealed Friday he did it because he believed it would clear the McMichaels of any crime. 

Attorney Alan Tucker told Inside Edition Friday that he was a close friend of the two men charged with Arbery's murder.

'I really thought releasing the video would put the truth out to the public,' Tucker stated.

'If he [Arbery] had just froze and hadn't done anything, then he wouldn't have been shot.' 

However after the video was uploaded to the internet Tuesday it quickly went viral and sparked nationwide outrage. 

Presumptive Democratic nominee for President Joe Biden said it showed the McMichaels killing Aubrey 'in cold blood'.

The father and son were subsequently arrested Thursday and have been charged with murder and aggravated assault. 

They made their first court appearance individually Friday afternoon via a video link from inside the Glynn County jail.

Magistrate Judge Wallace Harrell ruled that bond on both charges would have to be set by a superior court judge.  

Both men were read their rights and spoke only to confirm their names. Neither had attorneys representing them in court and no further hearing dates were scheduled.

Many Americans are outraged that it has taken more than two months for the assailants to be arrested.

Protesters gathered outside the courthouse in Brunswick Friday - what would have been the victim's 26th birthday.

A crowd of several hundred people, most wearing masks, sang 'Happy Birthday' in his honor outside the Glynn County Courthouse.  

Wanda Cooper, mother of Ahmaud Arbery appears with family attorney Lee Merritt on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon on Friday 8 May, 2020

Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Vic Reynolds (pictured center) said authorities are 'investigating everyone involved in the case including the individual who shot that video'

President Donald Trump broke his silence over the killing that has shaken America, calling the video showing Arbery's murder 'disturbing'.    

'I looked at a picture of that young man. He was in a tuxedo … I will say that that looks like a really good young guy,' Trump said on Fox & Friends Friday.

'My heart goes out to the parents and the families and friends,' he added while stating that he believed Georgia governor Brian Kemp would investigate the matter 'strongly'.  

'[Brian Kemp] is going to do what's right. It's a heartbreaking thing. That was very rough, rough stuff.

'Justice getting done is the thing that solves the [racial problem]. Again, it is in the hands of the governor and I'm sure he'll do the right thing. It could be something that we didn't see on tape. If you saw, things went off tape and then back on tape.'

According to a report in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson blocked police from arresting the father and son team because she was friends with Gregory McMichael.

McMichael, an ex-cop, had worked as an investigator in Johnson's office until his retirement in 2019 causing Johnson to recused herself from the case a few days after the shooting.

Exclusive photos show the moment Gregory McMichael (pictured) and his son Travis McMichael were arrested at their home in Brunswick, Georgia, on Thursday

An officer with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is seen leading 34-year-old Travis McMichael out of the home in handcuffs

'She shut them down to protect her friend McMichael,' Glynn County Commissioner Allen Booker told The Atlanta Journal Constition.

'They were told not to make the arrest,' added Commissioner Peter Murphy, who said he also spoke directly to Glynn County police about the incident and that officers had said there was probable cause for arrest before this.

DailyMail.com reached out to the DA's office for comment but a representative was not available.

It has also emerged that Gregory, who worked as an investigator in the Brunswick DA's office, helped prosecute Arbery in the past, Barnhill revealed.  

In a letter to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr recusing himself from the case, Barnhill said his son and Gregory 'both helped with the previous prosecution of (Ahmaud) Arbery'. 

Gregory, who retired from the DA's office in 2019, had not mentioned his involvement in the case to police.    

Arbery was shot dead while out jogging on February 23 by the McMichaels.

People react during a rally Friday morning outside the courthouse in Brunswick, Georgia, to protest the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man what would have been his 26th birthday

Protesters gathered for a march through Brunswick on Tuesday - the same day shocking footage of Arbery's death went viral

The killers evaded prosecution for more than two months, after the father and son team initially claimed they thought Arbery was a burglar after a spate of thefts in the area, and that he attacked them when they tried to make a citizen's arrest.  

But shocking cellphone footage - taken by Bryan - was leaked this week, showing the two men chasing and gunning down the victim in the street. 

The video showed the men 'ambushing' Arbery as he tried to run past their pickup truck.

In the harrowing footage, Arbery is seen running at a jogging pace on the left side of a road. 

A truck is parked in the road ahead of him. Gregory is inside the pickup's bed, while Travis is standing beside the open driver's side door. 

Arbery crosses the road to pass the pickup on the passenger side, then crosses back in front of the truck. 

A gunshot sounds, and the video shows Arbery grappling with Travis in the street over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. 

A second shot can be heard, and Arbery can be seen punching Travis. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. Arbery staggers a few feet and falls face down.

The leak of the video sparked outrage across the nation with LeBron James, Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner all leading cries for the McMichaels to be charged with murder.

The GBI took over the investigation on Tuesday after the video emerged and the McMichaels were finally arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault Thursday.