ABOUT TIME

Georgia Repeals 1863 Citizen’s Arrest Law After Vigilante Killing of Ahmaud Arbery

On Monday, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp repealed an 1863 citizen’s arrest law in an attempt to stop future violence from vigilantes.

Georgia has repealed its Civil War-era citizen’s arrest law in the hope of preventing a repeat of the vigilante killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was pursued and shot by three white men when he was out jogging last year. The three men—who are facing charges including murder and hate crimes over Arbery’s death—told police that they wrongly suspected Arbery was connected to thefts in their neighborhood, so they chased him down and shot him, in a killing that sparked national outrage last February. On Monday, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp repealed an 1863 citizen’s arrest law in an attempt to stop future violence by vigilantes. According to Axios, Kemp said that Arbery had been “a victim of vigilante-style violence that has no place in our country or our state.” The governor added that the arcane law was “ripe for abuse,” and that he was proud to make Georgia “the first state in the country to repeal its citizen’s arrest statute.”