Sharpton Fights ‘Stand Your Ground’

ORLANDO – Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says he plans to visit Tallahassee to begin lobbying against Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law prior to next month’s march in Washington, D.C. by the NAACP.

Sharpton made his comments Wednesday during a speech on the final day of the NAACP’s national convention in Orlando.

Flanked by NAACP President Ben Jealous and Martin Luther King III, Sharpton called the law the “worst violation of civil rights in the country.” He hopes to make Florida a test case for similar laws.

The comments came a day after Attorney General Eric Holder reiterated to the NAACP that the Justice Department has an open investigation into what he called the “unnecessary shooting” of teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, a city just northeast of Orlando.

George Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in Martin’s 2012 death. Zimmerman claimed the shooting was done in self-defense but did not use the “Stand Your Ground” law as part of his defense.

 

Source: Associated Press