Show our support to Governor Scott for standing firm on "Stand Your Ground"

[Leanne King]

So often we contact Gov. Scott when we are not happy with his actions or when we want him to get involved or offer up a veto. This is an opportunity for us to give him some positive feedback, to ask him to stand firm on his recent public announcement to refuse to bring the Florida Stand Your Ground Law back up for legislative review. He is receiving a tremendous amount of pressure from individuals as described in the article below by Joseph Cotto and even today by John McCain who has openly stated that Florida, and other states with similar laws need to take them under review.

I believe that thousands of us need to contact Gov. Scott thank him for his brave stand and offer our encouragement and support for his decision. We need to let him know that he is not alone and that we stand with him. We have all heard that the top can be a lonely place let's show him that this time that we stand with him.

Your message can be short and simple. A sample is provide below:

Thank you Gov. Scott for taking a strong position on the Florida Stand Your Ground Law. For understanding that every citizen has the right to protect themselves from a deadly threat. Thank you for ensuring that the rights of all Floridians are protected.You do not stand alone. WE THE PEOPLE are with you.

Email:

 [e-mail]

You can also go to:  http://www.myflorida.com/    On the top right you will see a place to contact the Governor.

 Call: 1-850-488-7146

The following article is provided to update you on what has been happening at the Capital in Tallahassee.

Joseph Cotto

FLORIDA, July 21, 2013 — Pro-Trayvon Martin activists, coalesced in a group calling itself the “Dream Defenders”, continue their occupation of the Florida Capitol building. Their protest has now entered its sixth day.
The occupiers are gathered in the hallway outside of the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial offices, both day and night. Unsurprisingly, their presence has generated a substantial amount of media attention.
“It’s no small feat for a grass-roots organization that got its start in Miami just over a year ago,” reports Kathleen McGrory of the Miami Herald.
“It’s been pretty surreal,” said Phillip Agnew, the group’s 28-year-old executive director. “And we’re just getting started.”
According to McGrory, Agnew has previous experience with civil disobedience, which included sit-ins at the Florida Capitol.
She writes, “He was the student body vice president at Florida A&M University when 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson was beaten to death at a Florida boot camp in 2006. At the time, Agnew was more interested in parties than protests. But when he realized that Martin Lee Anderson was the same age as his own little brother, Agnew joined student-led efforts to demonstrate at the capitol.”
The Dream Defenders chief goal appears to be passage of the “Trayvon Martin Civil Rights Act”. On Friday night, its leaders asked Governor Rick Scott to call a special legislative session during which this could take place. He denied their request.
CBS Miami details what the TMCRA is all about:
“Fully repeal(ing) [the] Stand Your Ground Law
“Requir(ing) law enforcement agencies to develop written policies defining and prohibiting racial profiling.
“Mandat(ing) law enforcement training on racial profiling.
“Repeal(ing) zero-tolerance policies in schools.
“Promot(ing) restorative justice programs for youth.”
Sundance of The Conservative Tree House, a widely-read right-of-center blog, has released various report from an anonymous source at the state Capitol. On Thursday, the informant stated that “(t)he protesters at no point have done what they claim to be. They have not be respectful nor polite with the public. They have not in anyway done what the generation before them did during the Civil Rights era. They claim to be doing a “Sit In” protest yet they take shifts, sit on their butts near power sockets surfing the internet on the public wifi, they don’t express their views in any logical means and they only show “force” when the media is at hand.
“They claim they want to fight the injustice of racism in American society yet they spew “facts” that no way support their beliefs. They claim that they are barred from voting, speaking in public, gaining an education, or be able to gain employment.”
The informant later remarks that the occupiers “spout Marxism and demand that Capitalism is brought down. They believe that there needs to be radical change and that violence is the key. They are willing to violate and abandon the Constitution and the rights and liberty of the people. They continue to want to twist the law and throw it upon the trash heap of history.
“They say that justice was not served yet justice was served as evidenced by the trial. They demanded that Rick Scott have George Zimmerman arrested and tried. He was and a jury of his peers found him not guilty. The protesters do not agree with the findings of the court because they don’t want to have the rule of law exercised. They want the rule of force to enforce their rules and morals. They want this [to] be not a nation of laws but a nation of men ruled through majority rule by decree.
“The protesters themselves are a shabby bunch. They are lazy and ill mannered. Their numbers are around 15 to 20 and they “work” in shifts. The media for the most part will not air the truth. They will only do tight shots of them to make it appear that their numbers are larger then they are.”
Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily has noted that “(m)ore evidence is emerging linking one of the principal organizers of Trayvon Martin protests to the attorneys for the Martin family, Benjamin Crump and Daryl Parks.
“WND found the organizer, Vanessa Baden, was listed as working for Crump’s and Parks’ firm on the Martin case.
“Further, Baden has described Crump and Parks as her ‘mentors‘ who ‘showed me that there was a lot more that we need to be fighting for.’
“Baden is the coordinator for Dream Defenders, an activist group that has been leading Martin protests since the onset.”
On Friday, the state Capitol informant said that the occupiers “are organizing and growing. They are forming committees to tackle various issues for their little Marxist uprising and they are growing cocky with their contact with the Florida Capitol Police. Sadly the FCP cannot evict them due to an issue with command since they are governed by the House and Senate along with the Executive branch of government and as such their hands are tied. Most are very professional and want to do what’s needed. They have done their best to work this situation with white velvet gloves.
“DOJ-CRS agent Mildred I. Duprey de Robles and FL State Rep. Alan B. Williams of course are constantly on scene to make sure that their special little group of rabble rousers aren’t picked on or have their feelings hurt. This is a critical moment right now; if they are not removed from the Capitol now then the problem will get out of control as their numbers grow and this will become another Occupy Wall Street rally.
“They are looking for conflict and want it to happen so they can then turn it into a public cry of police brutality on their “peaceful” gathering.”
The informant told afterward that the “FAMU Police Chief appeared in civilian attire along with a large group and showed their support of the protesters. Who I believe is the [Deputy] Police Chief of FSU PD also has appeared to show his support of them too. I can’t tell for I do not know FSU PD’s rank structure.
“Once again…. This is a critical moment because like any insurgency; it is weakest at the start. It is passing from that point in time and growing. If it is not stopped now then I fear their numbers will grow and this will get out of hand. Violence is not something I want but it is something they want. They want it to create public outcry and sympathy for their cause which is Astroturfed and controlled through outside means and they still preach the same lines of Marxist-Leninism and Black Liberation Theology.
“To add insult to injury. They went to the desk of the Governor’s Reception Secretary and dumped unwrapped Skittles candy on her desk. It was rude, childish, ill mannered, and lastly an insult to those that came before them fighting for true justice during the Civil Rights era.”
Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/conscience-real...

Thank you for your support on this important action.

God Bless you and God Bless our America.

Leanne

[Leanne King]

Another Update from Tally: 

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, July 22, 2013 ………Gov. Rick Scott and protesters camped outside his Capitol office continue to stand their separate ground.

Scott reiterated Monday, before leaving Tallahassee for an event in southeast Florida, that there will be no special session to review the state's controversial "stand your ground" law, a view supported by Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature.

Meanwhile, members of the Dream Defenders, a student-led group that has protested at the Capitol since last Tuesday, said they're busy making plans for the rest of this week and beyond after Scott sent Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walters to chat with students for several hours Monday.

Jacksonville resident Ciara Taylor, a member of the Dream Defenders, said that while they hope Scott changes his mind, they already have plans to be joined later this week by state and national civil rights groups.

"There are things that happen every day, people who change their minds every day for the better, and we can only hope that Gov. Scott wakes up, very soon," Taylor said while Walters continued to talk with the protesters.

The protesters, many students, started 100 strong last Tuesday. Over the weekend, 24 remained in a first floor hallway of the Capitol, outside Scott's office, under the watch of Capitol police.

While the Dream Defenders say they will remain at the Capitol until a special legislative session is called on the "stand your ground" law, Scott maintained that he has no intention to bring back lawmakers or to change his support for the measure, which passed in 2005.

"They've asked for something that you know I'm not going to do, I'm not going to call a special session," Scott said after meeting with Walters early Monday at the Department of Juvenile Justice headquarters in Tallahassee.

The protest was sparked by the July 13 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the February 2012 shooting death of Miami Gardens teen Trayvon Martin. Though Zimmerman's attorneys did not use a stand-your-ground defense, the Sanford case has led to a national debate about the law.

Asked about the debate and a negative portrayal of Florida by critics of the law, Scott responded, "We have a great state." After the meeting, Scott was scheduled to fly to Port St. Lucie for an afternoon economic affairs roundtable at Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies.

Walters said her intention was to hear the concerns of the students and share what her agency is doing.

In addition to their opposition to the "stand your ground" law, the students have tried to leverage the state and national attention --- there were 17 members of the media on hand as Walters met with about 30 protesters --- to discuss other juvenile justice laws, such as a zero-tolerance policy in schools.

"Had it not been for Trayvon Martin being suspended from school, he would not have been in Sanford that weekend," Taylor said.

At the time of the shooting, Martin was serving an out-of-school suspension, as part of his school district's zero-tolerance policy, due to a marijuana possession charge.

Taylor said Walters' appearance at the Capitol should be considered a small victory for the Dream Defenders.

"We didn't ask her to come, but if we can have her listen to stories from black and brown youth that are being affected by the initiatives that DJJ are putting out, then it's a win, it's an unexpected win," Taylor said. "It's not every day you're able to have someone in such a key leadership position talk with the people that are affected."

[edgar a martin]

I really appreciate that you ignored all the hype, and stood your ground, Gov Scott.  You have certainly been vindicated by a just verdict in the Zimmerman case.  Corey should step down (resign) from her post...she is part of the problem, not part of the solution.  I think she should be charged with criminal negligence at the least...maybe she might (by first hand experience) know how it feels.

[robert c tipton]

Gov Scott please stand your ground--throw the protestors out of my Capitol building and into the street gutter where they belong. Ignore Benedict Arnold a/k/a john McCain --he does not represent anything America stands for. He is one of the enemy.

[Leanne King]

You can also sign this petition:

https://www.change.org/petitions/florida-state-legislature-governor...

[Leanne King]

This mornings update from the Capital:

CAPITOL PROTEST: Spurred by the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of teen Trayvon Martin, protesters continued a sit-in this weekend outside the office of Gov. Rick Scott. They have said they will continue the protest until Scott calls a special legislative session on the "stand your ground" law. He told members of the group he would not call such a session.

[Wise A. Skillman III]

Thank you Gov Scott for standing firm, with the people of Florida on the Stand Your Ground Law.     26 states have such a law for a reason.   Keep up the good work.    Wise