The State of Georgia will officially commemorate Ahmad Arbery on Wednesday, the second anniversary of his death.
This month, the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution declaring February 23 Ahmaud Arbery Day forever. Legislators called Mr. Arbery one of the state’s “most distinguished citizens” and said he suffered “a senseless loss of life because of the color of his skin.”
The resolution noted two significant legislative changes in response to the 2020 murder of Mr. Arbery outside the Brunswick community of South Georgia: a new state hate crimes law and the repeal of the 19th-century Georgia Citizens Arrest Act, a law that was originally referred to as justification for the actions of Mr. Arbery’s persecutors.
Several events are planned in Brunswick to mark the anniversary, including a march, a 2.23-mile run in honor of Mr Arbery and a walk through the Satilla Shores neighborhood where he was killed.
In Atlanta, the Ahmaud Arbery Foundation, founded by Mr. Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, will hold an event in his memory. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the mental health and well-being of black men and boys.
And in Marietta, Georgia, on Wednesday, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office will hold a prayer vigil and celebration of the anniversary of Mr. Arbery’s death. They were attorneys from Cobb County who had successfully litigated Mr. Arbery’s murder in state court last fall.