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spaceyTopic: Lib Loser Stories
Florida passed a law recently that says you cannot be prosecuted for killing someone who invades your home. A Chicago Alderman, apparently on a protest vacation, seems to think only black criminals invade homes. She said at a rally that the law will "lead to open war on black males." The ACLU, Southern Christian Leadership Conference and others attended the protest.
Alderman Dorothy Tillman of Chicago raises her fist with others at a rally Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza. The crowd protested a law that guarantees people will not be prosecuted for using deadly force against intruders on their property. >>>>>
Crowd protests deadly force law
Critics: Bill can be easily misinterpreted
Throughout Pensacola, barbecue grills were heating up on Monday afternoon -- a Memorial Day tradition.
The beach was crowded with tents and towels laid side by side.
But underneath the canopy of downtown trees, and near the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. bust on the Palafox Street median, about 100 people softly sang hymns about a time when black people were oppressed.
And that, the impromptu singers believe, continues today.
Instead of slavery, the chains now come in the form of laws that are a threat to the black community, said a number of speakers at the two-hour rally Monday.
The issue: Florida Senate Bill 436, signed last month by Gov. Jeb Bush. It guarantees that people aren't prosecuted for using deadly force against intruders on their property.
The bill, filed by Sen. Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, was inspired by James Workman, a local man who killed an intruder in his southwest Escambia County home in the early hours of Nov. 3. No charges were filed against Workman.
But critics say that the bill just gives people a license to kill that can easily be abused or misinterpreted.
"What about all those people who perpetuate hate and who will use this as an act of aggression?" said the Rev. Hugh King, president of the Pensacola chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that conducted the event.
"We live in some scary times right now," said Susan Watson, president of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Watson, who is white, rhetorically asked the crowd if they believe that the law would be applied equally to her and to a black man.
Many in the crowd shook their heads; others yelled out, "No!"
"It got passed because we didn't do anything about it. It's our fault," she said. "We have to do something about it."
Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman, formerly of Pensacola, said the law will "lead to open war on black males."
"It's almost a way to eliminate people. Black men will be under the ground more than ever."
Tillman, a former staffer for King, was not on the list of speakers but was invited to the stage. She later led the crowd in singing the hymns.
Annie Winn, 62, brought her 5- and 11-year-old great-grandchildren to listen to the speakers.
"A lot of people are going to be killed," she said. "We need to protest and try to change this law -- it's just crazy."
At the end of the rally, Charles Steele, the national leader of the SCLC, charged the crowd to protest the law. Steele then led the crowd in a march down Palafox.
"The people united will never be defeated," they chanted.
Pensacola News Journal ~ Nicole Lozare ** Crowd protests deadly force law
