Don’t Stand Your Ground?
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The mother of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager who was shot in February 2012, appeared in front of a Senate panel to ask states to clarify their “stand your ground” laws.
Sybrina Fulton claimed that the law is vulnerable to abuse and that it isn’t clear how and when it can be applied. She believes that it allowed George Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon and get away with it.
Zimmerman was acquitted of murder charges after a confrontation between the two escalated into violence that ended with Trayvon dead.
Fulton claims that people can’t feel safe in their own community if Americans have laws such as “stand your ground” that allow citizens to defend themselves. She says that kids don’t feel safe going to the store to get candy and a drink and that there needs to be changes to the laws.
22 states have laws that don’t require citizens to run away if they are confronted with deadly force.
