Trayvon Martin's Mother To Push For "Stand Your Ground" Repeal
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - The mother of Trayvon Martin will be at Florida's Capitol this week to support legislation that would repeal the state's "stand your ground" self defense law.
Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, and Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee are sponsoring the repeal bill (HB 4009). The state's self defense law contains an element known as the Stand Your Ground provision which allows people who feel threatened to shoot back at assailants out in public.
The law, passed controversially in 2005, returned to the national spotlight last year with the February shooting death of an unarmed teen, Trayvon Martin, in Sanford. The man who fatally shot Martin, neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, plans to use the Stand Your Ground defense, saying he felt threatened.
Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, will join Williams and Bullard at a news conference at the Capitol on Wednesday.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
