Ahmaud Arbery would have been 27 years old this month.

To honor him and avoid similar tragedies in the future, we must end a practice that is racist, historically abused and one that killed Ahmaud — citizen’s arrests. Citizen’s arrest laws allow individuals with no authority or training to exert force and apprehend people they personally presume to be suspects.

Ahmaud, a black man, was seen as a suspect by three white men while he was simply on a jog near his home in Satilla Shores, Georgia, something he did regularly as a runner. The three individuals who chased him down and killed him thought he looked like a criminal, grabbed a handgun and a shotgun, got into their cars, and cornered Ahmaud. The pursuit ended with a confrontation where one of the men fatally shot Ahmaud.

Ahamud was racially profiled by these men and seen as a criminal — and this happens all too often. Laws like this that have been used by racists to advance their bigoted goals and enable white citizens to violently over-police in Black and Brown neighborhoods.

It’s past time to end this racist policy. That’s why introduced new legislation to end citizen’s arrests, the same practice that killed Ahmaud.

>We need your help to make sure this dangerous, racist practice will not be allowed to continue. Can you sign our petition to support New York putting an end to citizen’s arrests with this legislation? Your signature helps us show an outpouring of on-the-ground support.