Yesterday, Zach Bryan, the insurgent country-rocker who currently has both the #1 single and the #1 album in America, was arrested in Oklahoma, his home state. Police in the town of Vinita charged Bryan with obstruction of investigation. (In his mugshot, he looked good.) On Twitter, Bryan shared an apologetic statement about the arrest, writing, “Emotions got the best of me and I was out of line in the things I said.” Early this morning, Bryan posted a video where he essentially told the whole story of his arrest.
Bryan is currently driving cross-country to see the Philadelphia Eagles, his team, play the New England Patriots. It’s apparently just him and Jack, his dog. In the video, Bryan takes a break from the drive to film himself, in his car, talking about everything that happened. Bryan continues to strike an apologetic tone throughout, but he also makes it pretty clear that he was arrested for mouthing off to a cop.
Bryan says that he was pulled over for speeding in a small Oklahoma town a few days ago, and the local cop handcuffed him because he didn’t want to give his address to the cop. They figured everything out, and Bryan went on his way. Then, soon afterward, Bryan and his security guard were embarking on their drive to Boston in separate cars. Bryan’s security guard was pulled over, and Bryan parked nearby, getting out of his car to smoke a cigarette and watch what was happening. (Bryan doesn’t say that this was the same cop, but that seems to be the implication.) The officer ordered Bryan back into his car, and Bryan says that he got “too lippy with him.”:
I just didn’t help my situation at all. I felt like a child. It was ridiculous. It was immature, and I just pray everyone knows that I don’t think I’m above the law. I was just being disrespectful, and I shouldn’t have been, and it was my mistake. So he gets me in these cuffs, man. They’re tight. He puts me in his front seat, and we’re just all going back and forth. I’m like, “Man, these cuffs hurt.” He’s like, “They’re not supposed to be comfortable.” He was just being a cop, you know? And so I’m just getting more angry and angry, which is the worst thing you could possibly do.
So 15 minutes goes by, they finally let me out of the vehicle, and I’m just mouthing off like an idiot, like an actual child. I’m like, “Man, someone’s gotta get ahold of you guys! Why are you using your authority like this? This is so wrong!” When in reality, they were just doing their jobs. I was upset. So he looks at me. He says, “Man, I’m just gonna tell you this, and don’t interrupt me.” I’m like, “Well, when you’re done, I’m gonna say my piece.” He’s like, “OK.” He started talking. I interrupted him, naturally, because I was just angry. So he said, “I’m gonna take you to jail,” and he took me to jail.
Here’s the video:
And TMZ has dashcam footage in which you can hear Bryan saying “fucking cops are out of hand, truly,” that they’re a bunch of middle-aged white dudes just going around arresting people.
Seems like a non-event! And like the cop was, indeed, being an asshole!