The Scoop

Republican Controlled Georgia State Legislature Designates February 23 As ‘Ahmaud Arbery Day’

By • February 24, 2022 3:34 pm

The state of Georgia will designate Feb. 23 as Ahmaud Arbery Day, in honor of the Black man who was killed while allegedly jogging down on a residential street in Brunswick, GA, two years ago.

Earlier this month, the Georgia House of Representatives also approved a resolution commemorating Arbery by encouraging individuals to jog 2.23 miles every year to push for racial equality.

Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, Arbery’s parents, were slated to attend events in Georgia on Wednesday. A candlelight march and a vigil in the Satilla Shores area, where Arbery was killed, were among the scheduled commemorations.

This year’s anniversary of Arbery’s killing falls one day after his three convicted killers were found guilty of targeting Arbery because of his race in a federal hate crimes prosecution.

The sponsor of the resolution which created “Ahmaud Arbery Day”, Rep. Sandra Scott, said the legislation also repealed the state’s citizen arrest law as well as brought about fresh hate crime legislation.

After Tuesday’s guilty judgment, Scott told WABE, “We finally got the justice that we’ve been waiting on for a very long, long time.”

Twitter users reacted to the announcement.

Conservative commentator Jesse Lee Peterson commented, “We all know he wasn’t “jogging.” The guy was a thief and a loser! They always double down on their lies! #AhmaudArbery Georgia marks statewide ‘Ahmaud Arbery Day’ to honor the slain jogger. He won’t rest in peace.”

One user said, “I should break into a few construction sites in his memory.”

A small group of social activists marched around a suburb of Georgia in honor of Arbery yesterday.

The Scoop reported on the presence of violent, racist, black militant supremacists during the time of Arbery’s trial. Read more on that here.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for any updates.

Paul Aubert


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