Just months before Ahmaud Arbery was murdered, another unarmed black man was killed in the name of Citizen’s Arrest.

This Deadly Citizen’s Arrest Case in Georgia Still Looms

What We’ve Learned Since the Murder of Kenneth Herring

Simone Chérie
9 min readOct 11, 2021

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Hannah Payne, 21, is accused of shooting and killing Kenneth Herring, 62, on a busy highway near the intersection of Riverdale Road and Forest Parkway in Georgia, 11 alive!

Georgia’s since-repealed citizen’s arrest statute was covered extensively during the trial of Travis and Greg McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Though its legal interpretation has been heavily debated, Georgians across the political spectrum swiftly opted to repeal the statute; and further, showed bipartisan condemnation for the actions of Travis and Greg McMichael — the men who invoked the statute after they were filmed stalking and killing Arbery in broad daylight.

When there is bipartisan agreement about the heinous nature of a crime committed against a person of color, you can be sure it is a uniquely disturbing act of violence.

It is almost surreal that a similar tragedy would go so underreported — since just months before Ahmaud Arbery was murdered, another unarmed black man in Georgia was chased and killed by a white person, who would go on to invoke protection under the citizen’s arrest statute.

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Simone Chérie
Simone Chérie

Written by Simone Chérie

Legal Reform Advocate and Perpetual Optimist. 👩🏽‍💻Grad Student @EmoryLaw.