At a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, during which Trayvon Martin’s mother testified on the unnecessary tragedies that occur under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) opined that, the law is beneficial for African-Americans.
“In Florida, the data show that African-American defendants have availed themselves of the Stand Your Ground law more frequently than Anglo defendants,” Cruz claimed, sitting just across from Sybrina Fulton. According to him, black defendants were successful in 55 percent of fatal cases compared to 53 percent of whites.
What Cruz also missed was, studies show that killers are more likely to go free when their victims are black. A study by the Urban Institute finds that, in states with Stand Your Ground laws, white-0n-black homicides are 354 percent more likely to be ruled justified than white-on-white homicides.
Although George Zimmerman, the man who shot Florida teenager Trayvon Martin to death, didn’t directly use stand your ground in his defense, the law was considered by the nearly all-white jury who acquitted him.
Stand Your Ground laws give individuals legal permission to use lethal force to protect themselves if they feel their life is in danger and doesn’t require them to retreat if it is safe to do so.
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SYG not used in Zimmerman case. Nothing to see here folks, just more race bait and racial narrative from the media