Vol. 40, No. 11 Section 01 Tallahassee, Florida March 13-19, 2014

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More than 1,000 Band Together to Rally Against the ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law

By Aldranon English II

Outlook Staff Writer

Rev. Al Sharp-ton and several re-nowned individuals led a march of hun-dreds to the state Capitol Monday to

protest Florida’s self-defense doc-trine notoriously known as the “Stand Your Ground” law. Among the partici-pants were the par-ents of slain teenag-

ers Trayvon Martin, Kendrick Johnson and Jordan Davis.

Family members of Emmitt Till, who was murdered at 14 years-old during the

1950s, were also on hand. They joined family members of: Fruitvale Station victim Oscar Grant III, Air Force vet-eran Michael Giles and recently released

mother of three Ma-rissa Alexander – who was sentenced to 20 years for firing a gun near her es-tranged husband.

The event beck-

oned many influen-tial figures including radio personalities Tom Joyner and Joe Bullard. Others in-cluded Leon County

Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr.

Tom Joyner

Bishop A.J. Richardson

U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown

Rev. Al Sharpton

Photos by Aldranon English II Rev. Al Sharpton and other local representatives rally with the community against the “Stand Your Ground” Law. Hundreds gathered at the state’s capitol to witness history in the making as they are encouraged to vote in elections in November.

State Rep.Alan Williams

City of TallahasseeCommissioner Andrew Gillum

Leon CountyCommissioner

Bill Proctor

see RALLY, page 2

www.capitaloutlook.com Capital Outlook March 13-19, 2014 2

Commissioner Bill Proctor, City of Tal-lahassee Commis-sioner Andrew Gil-lum, local attorneys Benjamin Crump and Daryl Parks along with Florida A&M University Student Govern-ment President Elect Tonette Graham.

Florida law dic-tates that people, not involved in illegal activity, have the right to stand their ground and meet force with force – in-cluding deadly force, if they reasonably believe it is neces-sary to avoid death or great bodily harm. Florida U.S. Con-gresswoman Corrine Brown states that the law has done more harm than good in several states includ-ing Florida.

“In 2005, Florida passed the expan-sion of ‘Stand Your Ground’ to 24 other states,” said Brown. “Since its expansion, the law is like a can-cer that needs to be eradicated.”

Brown strongly urged the commu-nity to participate in the committee meet-ings later that day as well as the upcoming elections in Novem-ber.

“You have to

march over to the committee meetings as well to the voting polls,” said Brown. “Florida is ‘stuck on stupid,’ you have to show up people in Tallahassee and you have to represent on a daily basis.”

Rep. Alan Wil-liams states that self-defense laws were already in place before “Stand Your Ground,” but understands the im-portance of changing the aggressor lan-

guage portion of the law.

“As members of the Legislature, we cannot appeal it out-right now, but we are going to repair it,” said Williams.

Williams stressed

the significance of the march and the goal at hand for the community as well as for the entire na-tion.

Photos by Aldranon English II Participants held banners and signs throughout the march displaying their sentiments over the “ Stand Your Ground” Law. Rev. Al Sharpton along with several renowned individuals spoke at the rally.

RALLY CONTI-