Trayvon Martin Killing: Was "Stand Your Ground" Law to Blame?

by William Norman Grigg, Republic Magazine
William Grigg
Mar. 24, 2012

Civilian disarmament advocates have implicated Florida's "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law in the shooting death of 17-year-old Miami resident Trayvon Martin by self-appointed crime watch "captain" George Zimmerman on February 26. The Sanford, Florida Police have refused to charge Zimmerman, insisting that "under the law, it had no call to bring charges," reported the New York Times. The known facts of the incident strongly suggest that the refusal to charge Zimmerman has more to do with the Sanford PD's decision to treat him like a cop, rather than any provision of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.

Enacted in 2005, Florida's "Justifiable Use of Force" statute (Title XLVI, Chapter 776) recognizes that an individual has the natural right to use deadly force when confronting the threat of "death or great bodily harm" from an intruder or an aggressor. This does not apply when "The person against whom the defensive force is used has the right to be in ... [a] dwelling, residence, or vehicle," or if the individual who employed the defensive force " is engaged in an unlawful activity..."

Martin, an unarmed teenager with no criminal record, was headed to his father’s home in the Miami Gardens gated community with a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea when he was fatally shot by Zimmerman, who described himself as a "neighborhood watch captain" despite having no formal affiliation with that volunteer organization. Although he was described by Zimmerman to the police as a "suspicious individual," Martin had an unqualified legal right to be where he was.

Zimmerman called 911 to report what he described as a "suspicious" individual: "There's a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like he's up to no good, on drugs or something... These a**holes always get away." Zimmerman actively pursued Martin, after being specifically instructed by a police dispatcher that this was unnecessary.

When Martin noticed Zimmerman, the teenager -- who was speaking to a girlfriend via cellphone -- made reference to being "hounded by a strange man on a cellphone who ran after him, cornered him and confronted him," as summarized in an ABC News report.

"Why are you following me?” Martin asked Zimmerman. A few moments later, Zimmerman shot Martin with his 9 millimeter handgun. Several witnesses reported hearing the teenager cry for help before the shot was fired.

“They’re wrestling right in the back of my porch,” one witness told a police dispatcher. “The guy’s yelling help and I’m not going out.”

For some reason, police investigating the matter "corrected" one key witness, a local schoolteacher, by insisting that it was Zimmerman, not Martin, who had cried for help. This makes little sense: Zimmerman was armed and outweighed the frightened teenager by more than 100 pounds.

In addition to "correcting" one eyewitness, the Sanford PD pointedly ignored the testimony of Martin's girlfriend, to whom the victim expressed his own fears about the unidentified man who was stalking him.

Zimmerman's original story, as summarized by the Miami Herald, was that "he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when [Martin] attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck." Zimmerman claims that he shot Martin "because he feared for his life."

Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee appeared satisfied with Zimmerman's version of the incident, moving quickly to wrap up the case because "there is no evidence to dispute the shooter's claim of self-defense." The police released him without testing him for drugs or alcohol.

Zimmerman, who was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer in 2005 -- has called the police to report "suspicious" black males 46 times since January 2011. Neighbors have described him as "fixated on crime" and have complained about his "aggressive tactics."

During the February 17 incident, Zimmerman did not "stand his ground"; he pursued Martin, who had a legal right to be where he was. By creating the confrontation, Zimmerman was the aggressor. He had both the moral and legal duty to retreat, rather than to escalate the confrontation by employing force of any kind.

Florida's self-defense law, like similar statutes elsewhere, makes an exception for law enforcement officers. Although he was not employed by a police department and not an official member of the volunteer neighborhood watch, Zimmerman clearly considered himself to be acting in a law enforcement capacity. The Sanford PD uncritically accepted Zimmerman's self-characterization, treating him as if he were part of their privileged fraternity of official coercion, going so far as to tamper with eyewitness testimony on his behalf.

Under the terms of the Florida statute, Zimmerman committed an act of criminal homicide, not justified self-defense.

As outrage over the incident coalesces, a grand jury has been called to investigate the shooting and the FBI has announced that it will "monitor" the inquiry. Martin's family has suggested that racial bigotry underlies both Zimmerman's actions and the refusal by police to charge him. ABC News reports that "The Sanford Police Department says it stands by its investigation, and that it was not race or incompetence that prevented it from arresting Zimmerman but the law."

The civilian disarmament lobby loudly opposes "stand your ground" and "castle doctrine" laws recognizing the individual right to armed self-defense. In recent months, police unions have lobbied against "castle doctrine" laws in Minnesota and Indiana that explicitly recognize the natural right of citizens to use lethal force against police officers who unlawfully invade their property or threaten their lives.

Blaming the outrageous killing of Treyvon Martin on a "castle doctrine"-style self-defense law would fit comfortably into the police union narrative. Could the union's political agenda -- rather than racism or incompetence -- explain the Sanford PD's otherwise inexplicable decision to treat George Zimmerman as if he were a law enforcement officer?

Read more here.