Police Respond to Country Star Zach Bryan’s Apology Following Arrest

Country singer Zach Bryan was applauded by a police organization after he was arrested and subsequently apologized. 

Retired Sgt. Betsy Branter Smith, a spokesperson for the National Police Association, told TMZ that officers are appreciative of the singer’s swift statement and apology, adding that his behavior at the time of his arrest could have been much worse.

“This is a very frustrated young man and he had some inappropriate things to say, but he complied with the officers,” she told the outlet. “He didn’t try to fight them or attack them. He mouthed off. And he apologized.”

This week, Bryan posted a video to explain his encounter with law enforcement on Thursday, apologizing for “mouthing off like an idiot.”

After one of his employees was pulled over while they were on the road to Boston, Bryan pulled off the road to wait. When things took too long, he got out of the car to investigate what was going on. 

When the officer demanded the singer to return to his car, Bryan refused. 

“And like a dumbass, I was like, ‘Take me to f–king jail? What do you mean?’ So I get too lippy with him, he brings me over to his car, and I just didn’t help my situation at all,” he said. “I felt like a child, it was ridiculous and immature. I just pray everyone knows I don’t think I’m above the law. I was just being disrespectful and I shouldn’t have been. It was my mistake.”

Footage of the arrest shows Bryan grumbling that the “f–king cops are out of hand” and threw a few insults at the officers. 

In the moment, he said his “emotions got the best” of him.

He was booked in Oklahoma on Thursday on an obstruction of investigation charge, according to records from the Craig County Jail.

Smith offered a commendation to the chart-topping musician’s honesty and apology, saying she hopes he’ll use his platform to support law enforcement going forward. She noted that it’s common for officers to interact with people who behave like Bryan, adding that the singer’s comments came specifically from the heat of the moment.