"Family wants gunman charged after fatal parking lot dispute" by Mike Schneider Associated Press July 24, 2018
ORLANDO, Fla. — Michael Drejka, a white man who fatally shot the black father of three last Thursday upon being pushed to the ground outside a Clearwater, Fla., convenience store, confronted Markeis McGlockton’s girlfriend about parking in a handicapped space without a permit while she waited in a car outside a convenience store, authorities said. After exiting the store and seeing the argument, McGlockton shoved Drejka to the ground, and Drejka pulled out his gun. Seconds later, Drejka shot McGlockton in the torso, according to surveillance video from the store.
I've seen people do that and thought how wrong; however, I've never confronted anyone.
The case fell under Florida’s controversial ‘‘stand your ground’’ law, which allows people to use force without retreating if they feel threatened, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said, but Michele Rayner, an attorney for McGlockton’s family, said McGlockton was merely protecting his girlfriend and two children who were in the car when he shoved Drejka and that McGlockton posed no imminent threat to the shooter. McGlockton was backing up when he was shot in the side, she said.
‘‘There is going to be a lot of conversation . . . about the ‘stand your ground’ law and the problems with the ‘stand your ground’ law, how it disproportionately does not benefit people of color, how there are too many nuances in the law and it’s too loosely applied,’’ Rayner said. ‘‘Ultimately, this case isn’t ‘stand your ground.’’’
Some legal experts, though, said Tuesday that the case is a classic example of the ‘‘stand your ground’’ law.
Nova Southeastern University law professor Shahabudeen Khan said Drejka could have felt threatened while on the ground. ‘‘The key issue that would help the gunman, it’s the physical position on the ground he is in because of that initial push,’’ Khan said.
The often racially charged statute gained national prominence in 2012 after neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, claiming self-defense. Zimmerman, a white Hispanic, ended up waiving his right to a self-defense immunity hearing and was acquitted of criminal charges at trial.....
I'm sure I wrote about it, but for some reason neither the blog search nor Google will call it up.
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