The state of Georgia will formally memorialize Ahmaud Arbery on Wednesday, the second anniversary of his death.

The Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution this month declaring Feb. 23 to be Ahmaud Arbery Day in perpetuity. Lawmakers called Mr. Arbery one of the state’s “most distinguished citizens” and declared that he suffered a “senseless loss of his life because of the color of his skin.”

The resolution noted two significant legislative changes in response to Mr. Arbery’s killing in 2020 outside of the South Georgia community of Brunswick: a new state hate crimes law and the dismantling of Georgia’s 19th-century citizen’s arrest law, a statute that was initially cited as justification for the actions of Mr. Arbery’s pursuers.

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