Trayvon Martin’s parents make impassioned plea to change ‘Stand Your Ground’ law

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Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, the parents of the 17-year-old unarmed teenager who was murdered by a neighborhood watch volunteer, made an impassioned plea to change Florida’s Stand Your Ground law saying it encourages vigilantism.

George Zimmerman claimed he shot their son, Trayvon Martin, in self-defense. He wasn’t arrested on the spot due to Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which allows people to use deadly force when they feel threatened. The law permitted him to walk away free. Zimmerman was charged 45 days later with second-degree murder.

As reported by the Palm Beach Post:
“I believe my son was standing his ground…He was afraid,” Fulton told reporters outside the mega-church where the public is now addressing the task force for the first time since Scott created it after a national outcry over a delay in the arrest of Zimmerman. Authorities arrested Zimmerman two months after the Feb. 26 shooting in Sanford. “They do need to review these laws. “He was afraid…This is personal. They do need to review these laws.”

The parents also gave 375,000 online petitions collected by Second Chance on Shoot First, a national campaign co-founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“This is definitely personal to us. Our son has been sacrificed,” Tracy Martin said. “It’s a bad law. These laws are set up basically for the shooter to take an innocent life.”

Tracy Martin also disputed Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense, saying he ignored 911 operators instructions to remain in his vehicle and not to pursue Martin.

“He was defending himself against what?” Martin said.

The law gives the message that “it’s OK to be a vigilante in our society today,” Martin said. “The public is not going to stand around for it and we certainly aren’t going to stand around for it.”