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Georgia State Overhauls Citizen Arrest Law Following Ahmaud Arbery's Death

Reuters

   ATLANTA - Georgia overhauled a Civil War-era law Wednesday that allowed
   residents to arrest anyone they suspected of committing a crime--a
   "citizen'sarrest" law invoked by the defense of the three men accused
   of killing AhmaudArberylast year.

   TheArberycase garnered international outrage with civil rights
   activists saying it marked yet another example of a targeted attack
   onaBlack man.

   The Georgia General Assembly approved the bill across party lines by
   wide margins in both the House and Senate, and now it is headed to
   Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who has said he will sign it.

   "Ahmaud was the victim of vigilante-style violence that has no place in
   Georgia," Kemp told the media.

   Kemp said in a release the bill repealed "Civil War-era language in our
   laws that is ripe for abuse."

   Republican Representative Bert Reeves, the primary sponsor of the bill,
   said the bill was a "common sense move that should have been done a
   long time ago. It achieves meaningful reform to prevent vigilantism."

   Thecitizen'sarrest law came under scrutiny after the February 2020
   death ofArbery, 25, who was chased down and shot dead as he jogged
   through hissouthernGeorgianeighborhood. The shooting was caught on
   cell-phone video that went viral.

   In the 1863 law, Georgia allowed any resident to arrest someone they
   suspect committed a crime, alawthatcriticssay was enacted to detain
   people suspected of being runaway slaves.

   Prosecutors initially did not charge the three white men, citing
   thecitizen'sarrest law as the reason, as all three said they believed
   thatArberywas a burglar.

   A former Glynn County police officer, Gregory McMichael, and his son
   Travis,were charged with murder and aggravated assault, but only after
   state authorities stepped in about two months after the shooting.

   A third man, William "Roddie" Bryan, joined theMcMichaelsin chasing
   downArbery, police say, and shot the video of the incident on his
   phone.

   Attorneys for theMcMichaelsdid not immediately respond to Reuters
   requests for comment.

   Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, said that thecitizen'sarrest law was one
   of the foundations of the defense for all three accused and that the
   General Assembly's new measure did not change what was the law last
   year.

   Gerald Griggs, the vice president of the Atlanta chapter of the
   National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the
   law needed to be abolished.

   "It allowed people to just go play police officer and when they don't
   know what they're doing," Griggs said. "It was deadly in brother
   Ahmaud's case."

   No trial date has yet been set for the three.

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