Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill Monday repealing the citizen's arrest law. Consideration of the measure by the Georgia General Assembly was catapulted by the death of Ahmaud Arbery on February 23, 2020. The young black man was chased down and shot and killed by 3 white men in Brunswick, Georgia. The men contended that they were making a "citizen's arrest", that they believed Arbery to be a burglary suspect.
The 1863 law allowed citizens to make arrests. While the new measure ends the right of residents to make an arrest, it still allows owners of businesses to detain people on "reasonable grounds". It also includesprotections for self defense, and also for security officers, off-duty law enforcement officers and private investigators outside of their jurisdiction.