Ahmaud Arbery Day To Be Recognized Feb. 23 In GA

ATLANTA, GA – A state resolution will recognize February 23 in honor of Ahmaud Arbery.

Sponsored by State Rep. Sandra Scott (D-Rex), the date “will forever be known in the State of Georgia as The Ahmaud Arbery Day,” the resolution said.

On that day, Georgians are encouraged to run or walk 2.23 miles on that day to join with those advocating for racial equality.

Feb. 23 was the date in 2020 when Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was chased down, trapped, and shot and killed by three white men in pick-up trucks as he was running through a neighborhood in coastal Glynn County.

After going several months with no arrests, video footage showing the shooting prompted the State Attorney General’s Office to launch an investigation that led to murder charges against Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr.

Bryan and the McMichaels invoked the state’s citizen’s arrest law to justify chasing Arbery. At the request of Gov. Brian Kemp last Spring, state lawmakers passed amendments to the law outlawing vigilante justice by civilians. The state legislature also voted a hate crimes bill into law.

A Glynn County jury in November found all three men guilty of murder charges, and a judge last month sentenced them to life prison sentences.

A trial for federal hate crimes charges against Bryan and the McMichaels is ongoing in Brunswick and opening arguments started Tuesday.

Related:

• Ahmaud Arbery Hate Crime Trial Jury Selection Continues: Report
• Ahmaud Arbery Hate Crimes Trial: Judge Rejects Plea Deal
• Ahmaud Arbery's Killers Sentenced To Prison For Vigilante Murder
• Ahmaud Arbery Verdict: 3 Defendants Convicted On Murder Charges
• 'Public Lynching': Defense Slams Ahmaud Arbery Rally, No Mistrial