Source: Ben Crump / Twitter
Florida never fails to fail us.
Once again, the infamous “stand your ground” law is set to keep another Black family from getting the justice that they deserve. According to NBCNews, Ajike “AJ” Owens was fatally gunned down by her 58-year-old, unidentified, white woman neighbor after the neighbor called her children racial slurs. In true Florida fashion, the neighbor hasn’t been arrested and has been sleeping comfortably in her bed every night since the Friday incident.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods attempted to explain why this wanton killer has not been put in handcuffs and taken off the streets and that’s where the “stand your ground” law reared its ugly head…
“I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into her own hands,” he said, adding investigators are trying to determine whether Florida’s “stand your ground” law applies in the shooting.
“That law has specific instructions for us and law enforcement, and any time that we think or perceive or believe that … might come into play, we cannot make an arrest,” Woods said. “The law specifically says that, and what we have to rule out is whether the deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest.”
The sheriff also laid out some facts that should make it easy to dispel the “stand your ground” myth. One, the two women have had a long-standing feud. Two, the woman (Twitter, do your thing) shot Owens through the door. How could her life be in jeopardy if the “threat” isn’t even in her physical space? Three, at least two of the children witnessed their mother be gunned down.
Self-defense is one thing, but you shouldn’t be able to verbally abuse children with racist slurs, throw things at them, then get away with killing their mother when she gets in your face about it! ESPECIALLY not when you shoot her through the damn door! This should be an easy hate crimes to prove considering all the context.
Owens’ family attorney Anthony D. Thomas made it plain what he and the family expect.
“We need an arrest,” Thomas said. “Make no mistake about it. We do support our sheriff. But at the same time, we want him to do the job that he promised that he would do, and we want swift justice.”
BOSSIP will bring you more information on this story as it develops.
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