It’s been six years since then seventeen-year-old Mr. Trayvon Martin was shot dead and five years since the gunman, who said he fired his weapon in self-defense, was acquitted by a jury.
The story of Mr. Martin and Mr. George Zimmerman, the then Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who disobeyed police’s order and followed the hooded teen into a gated community, has over the years seen an untold recital of factors that contributed to the confrontation, race and perception chief among them.
A tragic American tale even known on foreign lands, it’ll be recounted once more beginning today when a six-part documentary, “Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story,” debuts on the Paramount Network and BET.
Mr. Martin’s death and the ensuing trial of Mr. Zimmerman captured the nation’s attention and propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into the mainstream media. The hoodie became a sign of resistance and the political fallout was an effort to review and rewrite the 2005 stand-your-ground law, which allows someone facing an imminent threat to use lethal force instead of retreating.
Mr. Zimmerman didn’t lean on the stand-your-ground law but claimed self-defense, according to CNN. Nonetheless, the law was a major point of contention and in October of 2013, Ms. Sybrina Fulton, the mother of the deceased, appeared before a Senate hearing in Washington to demand changes.
To assert that since Mr. Martin’s death, the stand-your-ground law has seen no changes, would be inaccurate. However, instead of it being weakened, in 2017, the controversial Florida law was augmented to shift the burden onto the state to prove that a shooter did not act in self-defense and therefore is not entitled to immunity.
In 2018, as the Trayvon Martin story again re-engages audiences, so does Florida’s stand-your-ground law.
On July 19th in Clearwater, Florida, Mr. Michael Drejka, a white man, fired his gun once at 28-year-old Mr. Markeis McClockton, a black man who seconds before the shooting had shoved the 47-year-old man to the ground during a dispute over a parking spot. Mr. Clockton, who had taken several steps back from Mr. Drejka upon seeing the gun aimed at him, later died at the hospital as result of a bullet piercing the chest.
Mr. Bob Gualtieri, the Pinellas County Sheriff, last week said he wouldn’t pursue charges in the case due to Mr. Drejka’s claim of self-defense and Mr. McClockton appearing to be the aggressor. Mr. Gualtieri also cited the law’s recent immunity clause and suggested his office could be civilly liable simply for making the arrest.
On Friday, NBC News reported that Democratic congressional lawmakers have asked the Department of Justice to weigh whether criminal charges should be filed in the death of the Florida father.
“Florida’s Stand Your Ground law has created a culture of impunity where communities of color are disproportionately affected,” Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings said in a statement.
Florida attorney Mr. Benjamin Crump, who represented Mr. Martin’s family, is now representing the mother of Mr. McClockton. The famous lawyer said Mr. Drejka was the aggressor because he approached Ms. Brittany Jacobs, Mr. McClockton’s girlfriend, while she was in the car with the children.
Mr. Crump isn’t alone in refuting assertions by the sheriff. Mr. Gualtieri said the Florida Legislature has created a standard, that is a largely a subjective standard. However, Senator Dennis Baxley – a Republican who in 2005 while he was in the Florida House sponsored the law – said “it’s an objective standard.”
“Stand your ground uses a reasonable-person standard. It’s not that you were just afraid,” POLITICO quotes the senator as saying.
State Senator Rob Bradley, who sponsored the 2017 legislation that says clear and convincing evidence to prosecute a stand-your-ground defendant must be presented by authorities, said “the idea that Florida law is concerned about the subjective perceptions of a shooter is wrong.”
And Mr. Marion Hammer, the National Rifle Association’s former president who assisted in stand-your-ground becoming law, said nothing in either the 2005 law or the 2017 law prohibits a Sheriff from making an arrest in a case where a person claims self-defense if there is probable cause that use of force was unlawful.
Many states, including Pennsylvania, have a stand-your-ground law on the books, though only Florida has the immunity clause. It’s rumored that a stand-your-ground defense is forthcoming in the high-profile case of a 20-year-old black Philadelphia poet who stabbed a white 38-year-old real-estate developer in Center City earlier this month. Mr. Michael White, who has been charged with the July 12th murder of Mr. Sean Schellenger, has a preliminary hearing on August 1st and sources say at trial a self-defense claim is almost certain.
“When black people make their stand your ground argument, it’s behind the bars of a jail cell, white people make their stand your ground arguments a week later after they’ve been sleeping in their bed comfortably,” Mr. Crump said on CNN just days ago.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® and I’m Drumming for Justice!™
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Photo courtesy of the author.