THEY ALL WANT TO BE GEORGE ZIMMERMAN:

Georgia law does indeed permit a person to execute a citizen's arrest--in very narrow circumstances. The relevant false arrest statute holds that a "private person may arrest an offender if the offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge. If the offense is a felony and the offender is escaping or attempting to escape, a private person may arrest him upon reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion."

Once the citizen's arrest is properly made, Georgia law requires the citizen to take the suspect before a judicial officer or peace officer "without any unnecessary delay." 

It's also true, however, that an unlawful attempt to take and hold a person is itself a crime--false imprisonment. Under Georgia law, a person commits the crime of false imprisonment "when, in violation of the personal liberty of another, he arrests, confines, or detains such person without legal authority."

Moreover, according to Georgia case law, one cannot use the citizen's arrest statute "to question" a suspect. In fact, stating an intention to question a suspect can be evidence that the individual claiming a right to make a citizen's arrest is "uncertain and did not have immediate knowledge" that the victim had been the perpetrator of the alleged crime. 

Now, let's apply the law to the facts. On the day Arbery died, a 911 caller said a man matching Arbery's description was walking inside a vacant construction site. Another caller said, "There's a black male running down the street." Gregory McMichael claimed he recognized Arbery from "surveillance video" after "several break-ins in the neighborhood." 

The only "offense" committed in anyone's presence is the report of a person walking into a construction site. If that merits mounting up an armed three-person, two-vehicle posse to chase a man in broad daylight and menace him with weapons, then many of us are lucky to be alive and free. Just last week I walked into a house under construction in my neighborhood to check out the new floor plans. I didn't even think to check for an armed gang charging down the street.

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