Last night, the country music world was flipped upside down when a mugshot of Zach Bryan began floating around, showing that he had been arrested for “obstruction of investigation” last night in Vinita, Oklahoma.
Of course, as the internet does, everybody began to speculate on what actually happened, with many even fabricating stories.
Bryan took to social media last night to give a summary of what all went down, saying:
“Today I had an incident with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Emotions got the best of me and I was out of line in the things I said.
I support law enforcement as much as anyone can, I was just frustrated in the moment, it was unlike me and I apologize.
They brought me to jail, and there is a mug shot of me floating around. Prayers we can all move on from this and prayers people know I’m just trying the best I can, I love you guys and I am truly sorry to the officers.”
And now, Bryan has released a video explaining everything that went down, and took responsibility for the whole situation.
He starts by explaining that he wants to tell his side of the story so the internet doesn’t do what the internet does and run wild with speculation before the real story comes out:
“I just wanted to be completely transparent with everyone who listens to my music about what happened yesterday with me getting arrested and everything, because I don’t want the internet to do what the internet does and make stuff up.
So I want to start by saying I have to deal with the legalities of it. I did go to jail, they didn’t play favorites. I was an idiot today, and my decisions did not reflect who I was as a person, and I just want to make that clear, and I should’ve been smarter about it.
I want to tell you guys the whole timeline, the whole story so there’s no confusion.
Zach explains that it all started a few days ago when he got pulled over and had some reservations about telling the officer his address:
Around three days ago I was driving through this small town in Oklahoma, and this is the beginning of all of it.
And I drive by this cop, I was going like four or five over, he pulls me over, he comes to my window, and the first thing he asks for is my license, my registration, and my address.
And I told him ‘Hey man I don’t really feel comfortable giving you my address, I’m a musician and I’m just not comfortable with it,’ and he says ‘If you don’t give me your address, I’m gonna have to take you to jail.’ And I’m like ‘Man, I’m not gonna give you my address.’
So he tells me to step out of the vehicle, he puts handcuffs on me, and I’m like, ‘Man what the hell is going on, why are you doing this? He’s like ‘Why are you not giving me your address?’
So we talked about it, I explained to him why, and I ended up giving him my address, I ended up abiding by what he was saying, we kept talking and he finally took my handcuffs off.
He gave me a warning because I wasn’t going too fast or anything, and he let me go because I started respecting him and being cordial, but I think it just frustrated me a lot because I didn’t know if I had a right to refuse giving him my address or not, but I did…
So then we get to yesterday’s arrest:
Fast forward to today, I wake up and I tell my security guard, ‘Hey man I’m gonna drive to Boston today to see the Birds (Philadelphia Eagles) play.’
So we’re driving to Boston, we get like 40 minutes away from my house, we’re going through Venita, he’s behind me and I see him getting pulled over, I’m like ‘Oh man.’
So I go around the block and I come and I pull back up next to him, and I’m sitting there next to the vehicle, and I didn’t get out I’m just sitting there next to him, and 10 to 15 minutes goes by and I get out of the car and I’m like ‘What is taking so long?’
I was gonna smoke a cigarette, and the cop comes up to me and he’s like ‘Sir get back in your vehicle,’ and I’m like ‘I’m not the one getting pulled over,’ he’s like ‘Get back in your vehicle or I’m gonna have to take you to jail.’ Like a dumbass, I said ‘Take me to fucking jail? What do you mean?’
And he’s like ‘Take you to jail,’ and I was like ‘Damn.’ So I get too lippy with him, he brings me over to his car, and I just didn’t help my situation at all, I felt like a child, it was ridiculous, it was immature, I just pray everyone knows I don’t think I’m above the law, I was just being disrespectful and it’s my mistake.
So he gets me in these cuffs man and they’re tight, and he puts me in his front seat, and we’re just all going back and forth, and I’m like ‘Man these cuffs hurt,’ and 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, which is like the worst thing you could possibly do. So 15 minutes go by and 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 gonna 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. I was upset.
So he looks at me, he says ‘Hey man, I’m gonna tell you this and don’t interrupt me,’ and I said ‘Well when you’re done I’m gonna say my peace,’ so he starts talking and 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, and I was in jail for a few hours.
Once I got there, it kinda lightened up because I just cooled off a little bit. I was talking to the people booking me, everybody was super kind, I was in my jail cell for a while, and the cop and me eventually shook hands, I ended up apologizing online because I realized that my actions didn’t reflect who I was as a person.
And the night ended ok. I have to deal with the legalities of it when I go back home. The people of Vinita were super kind.
I just want to tell the story and get it out there before someone blew it out of proportion.
I was just an idiot. And I’ll take the fall for it. I’m a grown man, and I shouldn’t have behaved like that, and it won’t happen again.”
You can check out the full video here:
