Under "Stand Your Ground" Trayvon Had The Right To Kill Zimmerman

[Oneironaut]

63. Here's why SYG is a bad law - It doesn't care about what happened before the shooting.

George Zimmerman clearly created the situation where he needed to use his gun. He was the aggressor. This fact was never under dispute. Trayvon Martin only attacked because Zimmerman was following him. Even right wingers can't dispute these facts. Zimmerman admitted to stalking Trayvon Martin in his car.

The problem is, the law didn't care. It only cared that Trayvon Martin attacked George Zimmerman (in self-defense, in my opinion), which made Zimmerman's actions self-defense under the law.

Here's the problem: you can provoke people, and then use the SYG law to legally murder someone. For example, you can go up to a group of teenagers, call them slurs and insult them, and then when one of them tries to attack you, you can legally shoot them with no consequences. You're not supposed to be able to pick fights with SYG, but then it becomes your word versus the victim's. If the victim is dead and can't tell what really happened, it doesn't matter what happened before, does it?

If you're white, the police will by default take your side in a SYG case. You can get away with murder by provoking people to attack you and then shooting them.

There should always be a duty to retreat if it is possible and nobody else is in danger. Otherwise, it creates situations where murder is encouraged.