Free Republic

RIVERVIEW, FL - Hillsborough County detectives are investigating a domestic related fatal shooting at an apartment complex in Brandon. Authorities say they received a 9-1-1 call around 6 a.m. this morning indicating a man had been shot during a violent domestic altercation at the Sherwood Forest apartments at 10103 Sherwood Lane. When deputies arrived they found a man shot to death and two women with facial injuries that apparently occurred during a fight with the man. Officials say their preliminary information indicates that the man who was shot, showed up at his girlfriends apartment, forced his way in to her...

There is no question that George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin. There is no question that things would have ended better if Zimmerman had heeded counsel from 911 personnel and restrained himself from following Martin into the bowels of the residential complex. There is no question that Zimmerman had juiced himself into fear and hysteria on the speculation that Martin was “on something” and was necessarily “up to no good,” but a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona iced tea is hardly loot from a terminating burglary. However, there is big contention about what happened when Zimmerman caught up...

TALLAHASSEE — After sitting in at the Florida Capitol for 31 days — since just after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin — the group called the Dream Defenders ended its protest Thursday with the help of civil-rights icon Julian Bond. Leaders said they'll carry their campaign against the "stand your ground" self-defense law and what they consider other forms of racial bias to the polls, trying to defeat the elected officials who opposed their demands. That includes Gov. Rick Scott, who is up for re-election next year. The Dream Defenders announced a voter-registration drive,...

DETROIT (WJBK) - Michigan's "stand your ground" law is practically the same as the Florida law, and there are a lot of people hoping that a review leads to it being repealed. However, we spoke with one Detroit man who said "stand your ground" quite possibly saved his life and without a doubt kept him out of prison. "If it wasn't for [the] 'stand your ground' law, right now I would be in jail, and my life could've been taken at that point," said Darrell Standberry. It happened nearly two years ago, but Standberry remembers like it was yesterday the...

Stand Your Ground: A big hypocrite in the IRS scandal targeting Tea Party groups sets his sights on a conservative think tank, asking its suspected supporters: "Are you now or have you ever been a conservative?" Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin is on a witch hunt that threatens anew the free speech rights of Americans who don't hold his views or those of the Obama administration. This time he has targeted the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a group of state legislators who promote free markets, limited government and federalism, ahead of a "stand your ground" hearing Durbin announced after George...

Florida Sit-In Against ‘Stand Your Ground’ By LIZETTE ALVAREZ TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The college and high school students arranged themselves in the colonial-style chairs and on the green carpet, a portrait of the state’s Old Capitol building above them, as they exchanged stories about their lives and the travails of the “black and brown youth” in Florida. One young woman whose parents were both drug addicts spoke about how she had defied the odds; she will graduate from college next year. A young man mentioned that he was one of the few in his family who had not ended up...

Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin is facing a firestorm of criticism after sending letters to hundreds of organizations trying to find out the depth of their relationship with the American Legislative Exchange Council. The senator’s interest in ALEC is based on the stand your ground legislation that has become a focal point for liberal activists and lawmakers after the George Zimmerman trial in Florida. But his hometown newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, editorialized that the inquiries looked like “Durbin’s enemies list.” In the August 6 letter sent to think tanks and corporations, Durbin wrote, “I am seeking clarification whether organizations that...

For Immediate Release FSA President, Sheriff Grady Judd, today announced, “The right to self-defense is well-established in law.  The Florida Sheriffs confirmed this position by voting unanimously, at the 2013 Florida Sheriffs Association Summer Conference, to support the Stand Your Ground law as it is currently written.  Our current judicial system is comprised of multiple checks and balances to ensure fair and equitable application of all laws, including Stand Your Ground.”  Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity, and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a...

Across the country, laws that pertain to the use of deadly force have come under scrutiny in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial, but not all the laws are the same. That is why Indiana’s law likely won’t be changing any time soon. Indiana does have legislation in the Indiana Code that would be considered “Stand Your Ground.” It means that a person in Indiana does not have a “duty to retreat” and is allowed to use deadly force in certain scenarios. Indiana’s legislation is different than Florida’s in a few key areas, but it also shares a lot...

Two different conservative organizations with whom we’ve got contacts have received letters from Sen. Dick Durbin’s office today which look an awful lot like the actions that precipitated the IRS scandal. Apparently there’s a massive fishing expedition afoot. This came to the our buddy Kevin Kane at the Pelican Institute… Dear Mr. Kane, I write to seek information regarding your organization’s position on “stand your ground” legislation that was adopted as a national model by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

New Orleans Police are searching for a pair of men who carjacked two women and a 3-year-old girl as they were getting into their vehicle in the Marigny neighborhood Saturday night. The robbery occurred in the 500 block of Marigny Street about 8:30 p.m., according to authorities. The women had just returned to their parked car and were in the process of putting the toddler and their belongings in the vehicle. Two men approached, one armed with a pistol, authorities said. The robbers ordered the driver to give up her watch and the vehicle, a white, 2007 Jeep Compass. The...

A man who was brutally stabbed by Brooklyn subway slasher Maksim Gelman two years ago had his negligence case against the city dismissed in court yesterday, despite the fact that two transit officers had locked themselves in a motorman's car only a few feet from him at the time of the attack. Gelman stabbed Joseph Lozito in the face, neck, hands and head on an uptown 3 train in February 2011, after fatally stabbing four people and injuring three others in a 28-hour period. Lozito, a father of two and an avid martial arts fan, was able to tackle Gelman...

A majority of Americans support controversial “stand your ground” laws, according to a new poll, but their views are sharply divided along racial lines. Voters back the self-defense laws 53 percent to 40 percent, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac, but when broken down by race, black and white voters have opposite views. White voters support such laws in their state 57 percent to 37 percent, while black voters oppose the laws 57 percent to 37 percent. Hispanic voters are split, with 44 percent supporting the laws and 43 percent opposing. With “stand your ground” laws a popular target...

Feels like a surprise after so much media angst over the role of “Stand Your Ground” in Zimmerman’s acquittal — which was close to zero, by the way — but this isn’t a surprise really. Thirty-one states have SYG laws or a limited variation on them, the “Castle Doctrine” that limits SYG to your own home. Go figure that a majority of voters would endorse them when asked. White voters support “Stand Your Ground” laws 57 – 37 percent while black voters are opposed 57 – 37 percent. Men support these laws 62 – 34 percent while women are divided...

HOUSTON – A man in the Museum District who refused to be a repeat robbery victim fought back Thursday. He put one suspect in the hospital, another in jail. The victim was smoking a cigarette in front of the Caroline Collective on Caroline near Rosedale around 7 a.m. Three suspects tried to rob him at gunpoint. But after being held up at the same location three weeks ago, the victim was ready this time. He reached into his SUV and pulled out a large-caliber handgun. The man fired several times, wounding two of the suspects.

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday accused Rev. Jesse Jackson of insulting Floridians with a series of reckless and divisive statements about the state and its “stand your ground” self-defense law.While visiting the state Capitol Tuesday, Jackson talked about efforts to repeal the law and used the phrase “Selma of our time” — a reference to civil rights marches in Alabama that helped prompt change in the 1960s.In a July 18 exchange on CNN, Jackson talked about an economic boycott to “isolate Florida as a kind of apartheid state given this whole stand your ground laws.” Scott denounced both...

George Zimmerman was acquitted because of the flawed, unnecessary Florida Stand Your Ground law. It gives entirely too much latitude to the killer to use deadly force. Trayvon Martin was walking home from a store carrying Skittles when he was followed by Zimmerman. A fight developed and Martin was shot through the heart. Wrong assumptions were made that caused death. This is a bad law fiercely lobbied for by the National Rifle Association in 23 Republican legislatures, including Tennessee’s. Their goal is to fearfully arm the citizenry against a perceived government takeover of their guns and freedom. This is political...

On Monday morning, a robber walked into an Atlanta Waffle House and pointed a gun at patrons. The crook was wearing a bandana and hoodie, according to reports. Everyone in the restaurant undoubtably saw their lives flash before their eyes. That is, until one Waffle House patron pulled out his own gun and fired at the bandit. The suspect is Ashton Macafee, 20. After entering the Waffle House, he screamed. “Nobody move and open the cash register!” The incident happened around 2am in south Fulton County. The man who fired back at Macafee, and likely saved the lives of some...

In a recent article I called for economic sanctions against Florida to compel business and political leaders in that state to change the “Stand Your Ground Law” that provided the basis for the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. There are times when there is a convergence of ideas, a meeting of minds, such that a particular strategy has the potential to galvanize a movement. This appears to be one of those times. The idea of boycotting Florida is not a Ron Daniels idea or Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) call. Rather,...

TALLAHASSEE - Florida Gov. Rick Scott sharply criticized Jesse Jackson on Wednesday over comments he made this week while joining a Capitol protest. Jackson spent time with a group upset with the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. They've refused to leave the Capitol until Scott calls a special session and asks legislators to overhaul the state's "stand your ground" self-defense laws. Scott has refused the request. Jackson, the veteran activist, criticized Florida as the "Selma of our time," referred to it as the "Apartheid State" and made a comparison of Scott to former Alabama Gov. George Wallace. Selma, Ala.,...