Truth: Nowhere in the law –and the minutes of the Florida legislature need to be examined to further bring to light– does it state that “I felt threatened†constitutes a kill-and-get-out-of-jail card option.
[Connecting The Dots]
What’s the Stand Your Ground law in Florida?
Title XLVI, Chapter 776, section 776.012 of the 2005 Florida Statutes reads:
“776.012
Use of force in defense of person.–A person is justified in using
force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that
the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend
himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of
unlawful force.
However, a person is justified in the use of
deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if: (1) He or she
reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent
death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to
prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; or Under those circumstances permitted pursuant to s. 776.013.”
The
law doesn’t say: “If you use deadly force and claim self-defense,
then the user of deadly force, without more, can not be arrested.”
Nowhere in the law itself does it say a mere statement equals immunity.
Yet, all across America, and the world, the public at large is
repeatedly force-fed this “immunity idea” that appears no where in the
law itself.
Newscasters nation-wide, who appear to be
slamming the Stand Your Ground law, are unwittingly supporting George Zimmerman’s alleged defense by even implying
that there are legitimate situations where merely saying “I felt
threatened” would protect and immunize a shooter against arrest.
This is false.
I
watched “Hardball” and heard political analyst John Nichols, the
Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine say “The interpretation
kind of goes to the gunman. The person with the gun can say ‘I felt
threatened. I felt I was in danger.’ Prosecutors, police officers,
judges who traditionally have been able to interpret statements like
that really are robbed of the ability to do it by these laws that
essentially say there is a blanket immunity, if the shooter says they
felt threatened or they felt endangered they are protected against
prosecution…We have instances where people have shot ….and the
person has gotten off the hook on the argument they felt threatened. All
they have to do is say they felt threatened and that’s what happens.”
The
moderator, Chris Matthews, never asked Nichols where he got his
information from. Nichols got a lot of time to push the thought that all
one has to do is merely say “I felt scared” and they are immune. This
is the Stand Your Ground hoax.
The second part of the SYG
hoax is this: If Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman had a
confrontation, who determined that Trayvon was using “unlawful force” as
described in the law itself?
Even if there was indeed a
confrontation, according to the law itself, Trayvon’s force had to be
unlawful. Who and how was it determined that Trayvon’s force was
“unlawful”? That determination had to be made for Zimmerman to be
protected by Florida’s SYG law.
The way I see it, Trayvon
would have been justified in attacking someone who was 100 pounds
heavier and stalking him and cornered him after Trayvon retreated.
Why?
Because Zimmerman was criminally harassing Trayvon, within the meaning
of the criminal Florida stalking statute Title XLVI, Chapter 784,
section 784.048(1)(a) which reads: “Harass” means to engage in a course
of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial
emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose.”
What
legitimate purpose was served by following someone who was a suspect
only because of: a hoodie, brown skin, skittles, iced tea, and African
ancestry?
Since when is it a legitimate purpose to racially
profile? Zimmerman stalked, lost, and found Trayvon again and that, in
my mind, constitutes “a course of conduct”.
If you read
the law again, you will see a reference to Florida statute 776.013. That
statute protects during burglary or events that happen in the home and
that statute does not apply here.
State Attorney Norman
Wolfinger and Police Chief Bill Lee have “temporarily” resigned and
never thought their actions, or inaction, would come back to haunt
them.
Hoax: That all you have to do to avoid arrest when shooting in Florida is say “I felt threatened”.
Truth: Nowhere in the law –and the minutes of the Florida legislature
need to be examined to further bring to light– does it state that “I felt threatened”
constitutes a kill-and-get-out-of-jail card option.
Hoax: If there was a confrontation, Zimmerman was justified.
Truth:
In the State of Florida, if someone is stalking you, with no
legitimate purpose, and there was no legitimate purpose in racial
profiling, you are the person in fear of your life and you are
protected, as Trayvon was, by the SYG law. If there was a confrontation,
Trayvon was protected by the SYG law.
You can reach Posr at [email protected]
“Speaking Truth To Empower.”
