Have we reached the point at which self-defense is a crime?
Article by Andrea Widburg in "The American Thinker":
Thirty-five American states have stand-your-ground laws, while the remaining fifteen require retreat only when it can be done with absolute safety (although none require retreat when the attack takes place in a person’s own home or “castle”). America strongly supports self-defense.
Or does it? Recently, activist prosecutors seem to be criminalizing self-defense when whites use it against blacks.
In 2012 in Florida, George Zimmerman, a half-Hispanic man whom the media labeled as white, killed Trayvon Martin. Law enforcement knew that Zimmerman had been following Martin from a distance, that Martin jumped Zimmerman, and that Martin brutally attacked Zimmerman before Zimmerman shot him.
Nevertheless, the Seminole County prosecutor charged Zimmerman with murder. Obama’s Justice Department also spent three years investigating Zimmerman for violating Martin’s civil rights. Eventually, a jury acquitted Zimmerman, and the DOJ stopped harassing him.
It later emerged that the prosecution and the Martin family had knowingly relied on false evidence against Zimmerman. He has since sued various people associated with the case for $100 million.
Once Zimmerman was acquitted, both self-defense and the “stand your ground” doctrine vanished from the headlines for eight years. However, thanks to the racial divisions that Democrats and their foot soldiers in the Black Lives Matter movement have been sowing, these rights are again at the forefront of American life. In three recent cases, prosecutors have arrested white people caught on video seemingly defending themselves when faced with threats from black people.
Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe has been charged with felony murder for killing Rayshard Brooks, who first attacked Rolfe and a fellow officer, and then stole a taser that he fired at Rolfe. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard is fighting for reelection while under investigation for “funneling” at least $140,000 city dollars to himself.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, of St. Louis, Missouri, protected themselves with guns after Black Lives Matters protesters, some of whom were wielding guns, broke down their gate and verbally threatened them. The McCloskeys, who are Democrats and earlier supported BLM, did not fire their guns, but made clear that they intended to defend themselves:
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