US: Georgia overhauls citizen arrest law after Arbery’s killing

The killing of Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 caused outrage and highlighted how Civil War-era law was used against Black people.

Georgia has overhauled a Civil War-era law that allowed residents to arrest anyone they suspected of committing a crime – a “citizen’s arrest” law invoked by the defence of the three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery last year. The Arbery case garnered international outrage, with civil rights activists saying it marked yet another example of a targeted attack on a Black man. The Georgia General Assembly on Wednesday 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.