Civil Rights Leader To Attend Rally For Stand Your Ground Victim

CLEARWATER, FL – As Florida Democratic leaders call for special session on Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law, nationally known civil rights leader, the Rev. Al Sharpton, is headed to Clearwater Sunday to participate in a "Rally for Justice" for Markeis McGlockton.

The rally is scheduled for Aug. 5 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at St. John Primitive Baptist Church, 1002 Palmetto St., Clearwater.

Sharpton is among a growing number of activists who are condemning Florida's 2005 Stand Your Ground law, saying it unfairly targets blacks. Tallahassee civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump went so far as the call the law a "license to kill blacks."

Crump represented the family of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old unarmed black teen who was shot and killed by Sanford security guard George Zimmerman in 2012. Zimmerman claimed immunity under the law.

He is now lending his legal services to McGlockton's family. On July 19, Markeis McGlockton, 28, who is black, was shot and killed at a Clearwater convenience store. His white hooter, Michael Drejka, 47, shot McGlockton after McGlockton pushed him to the ground for getting into a heated argument with McGlockton's girlfriend and the mother of his three children, Britany Jacobs, 24, over parking in a handicapped parking space. Drejka, who has a valid concealed weapons permit, said he was in fear for his life when he pulled out his gun and shot McGlockton.

Sunday's visit to Clearwater won't be Sharpton's first trip to Florida to protest the law. In 2014, he led a group of several hundred people on a march to Tallahassee to protest the use of the Stand Your Ground defense in the case of Trayvon Martin.

Sharpton is the founder and president of the National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization headquartered in Harlem, New York, with over more than 60 chapters nationwide. He is also the host of a daily television show on MSNBC, "PoliticsNation, and a nationally syndicated radio show, Keepin' It Real."

Florida was the first state to pass a Stand Your Ground law giving residents the right to take lethal action against someone who is threatening their lives instead instead of retreating.

Under the Florida law, a person who claims justifiable immunity under the Stand Your Ground law cannot be arrested. Instead, the State Attorney's Office has the burden of proof to produce evidence showing why the Stand Your Ground law should not apply.

Since the shooting, which has attracted national headlines, Drejka has kept to himself in his Clearwater home and has refused requests for interviews.

Last week, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office forwarded its investigation into the shooting to Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe, who has declined to comment on the case.

In the two weeks since the shooting, protesters have staged several rallies in Clearwater in support of the McGlockton family. Additionally, the Clearwater/Upper Pinellas County Branch of the NAACP has asked the Department of Justice for a formal review of the case. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, has sent a similar request to the DOJ.

In the meantime, on Friday 32 Democrats in the Florida Legislature signed a petition calling for a special session to amend or repeal the Stand Your Ground law.

Detractors A No Show At Stand Your Ground Press Conference

Clearwater Stand Your Ground Case Now In State Attorney's Hands

Pinellas Sheriff: Stand Your Ground Applies In July 19 Shooting

Trayvon Martin's Lawyer Joins Clearwater Stand Your Ground Case

Attorney Says Stand Your Ground Defense Not Justified In Shooting

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