Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law is once again in the spotlight following last week’s shooting death of a 17-year-old teenager by a 45-year-old man in the parking lot of a Jacksonville gas station. The application of stand-your-ground appears to be the sticking point.
It started with a confrontation over loud music coming from an SUV full of black teenagers.
45-year-old Michael Dunn claims he fired 8 rounds into the car after he saw the barrel of a shotgun sticking out of a rear window. 4 of those shots were fired as the SUV was driving away. Dunn reportedly told police he was afraid for his life - which is the criteria for using Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law as a defense.The Reverend R.B. Holmes was the vice-chair of a special stand-your-ground task force created by Governor Rick Scott in the wake of the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. Holmes says the task force decided the law is good but often misinterpreted.
“Someone pursuing you. Someone attacking you. Someone invading your privacy. You at a place you rightly belong. Maybe your home, service station, at church, at a school - you have a right to protect yourself", said Holmes. "What happened in jacksonville a few days ago does not define or describe the stand your ground statute"
Holmes is the pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee.
Jacksonville police have charged Michael Dunn with murder and attempted murder. State Attorney Angela Corey says she’ll bring formal charges against Dunn at his arraignment December 19th.