Citizen's Arrest Repeal Passes GA House Unanimously

ATLANTA — Citizen’s arrest is one step closer to being repealed as a Georgia law.

Monday, one-half of the Georgia General Assembly voted unanimously to strike down the law invoked in 2020 by two Brunswick men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery.

House Bill 479 passed with bipartisan support with all 173 present members of the Georgia House of Representatives agreeing to the new measure that Gov. Brian Kemp proposed last month.

“Why was Ahmaud Arbery shot and killed on Feb 23, 2020?” House Rep. William Boddie (D-62) said during the debate that preceded the vote. “It was because the two men that chased Mr. Arbery felt empowered by the citizen’s arrest statute here in Georgia.”

Don Hogan, the Republican Representative for District 179 which includes Glynn County where Arbery lived, urged all House members to support the bill, pointing out that the men accused of the shooting acted outside the law.

“They were not policemen,” Hogan said.

He noted that people from his community are eager to see this current law change.

“It’s an old bill,” Hogan said. “It’s outdated. We have no need for it. This is the right thing to do. It’s supported by the community in Glenn County.”

Beyond sworn law enforcement officers, this bill will limit detaining capabilities to certified security personnel, state-run truck weighing station attendants or business owners who suspect wrongdoing and have called police to the scene.

Kemp took to social media Monday evening to salute the members of the House for supporting the bill.

The Governor said he anticipates similar support from the Georgia Senate.

“I look forward to the bill’s passage in the Senate as we work toward a safer, more just future for all who call the Peach State home,” he said in a statement.

Being that Monday was Georgia cross-over day — the final day that bills can be passed before moving to the opposite chamber of the General Assembly — the bill had to be voted on to go before the Georgia Senate.

The Civil War-era Georgia statute rose to attention last year after three white men in Brunswick chased and cornered an unarmed Arbery — who is Black — while he was jogging Feb. 23, 2020, and fatally shot him after claiming to believe he was a burglar. The Glynn County district attorney recused herself, and an outside prosecutor would not charge former policeman Gregory McMichael, his 34-year-old son Travis, or William "Roddie" Bryan when they invoked the citizen's arrest, claiming they acted in self-defense.