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Harry Cohen wants Gov. Rick Scott to call special session on Stand Your Ground law

The Tampa City Council member will ask council members to make the formal request at Thursday's meeting.
 
Published July 24, 2018|Updated July 24, 2018

Tampa City Council member and mayoral candidate Harry Cohen wants Gov. Rick Scott to call a special session to address the state's "Stand Your Ground" law.

A fatal shooting in a Clearwater convenience store parking lot on Thursday thrust the controversial law back into the spotlight. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri declined to make an arrest. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's office is now looking at the evidence.

Cohen will ask council members to make the formal request to Scott at Thursday's council meeting.

Cohen released the following statement Monday evening:

"In 2012, I stood before 900 people at the 34th Street Church of God and called for justice for Trayvon Martin and a repeal of the Stand Your Ground law. Neither has happened; in fact, the Florida Legislature made the law worse in 2017 and we just saw the ramifications of this last week in a Clearwater convenience store parking lot.

Markeis McGlockton was a young father of three children. He will never get to see his children grow-up, attend their graduations or go to their weddings.

At the end of this Thursday night's Tampa City Council meeting, I will make a motion to have Tampa City Council formally request that Governor Rick Scott call a special session of the Florida Legislature to repeal Stand Your Ground and leave it up to judges and juries to determine if this type of case is self-defense.

This is not a 2nd Amendment issue, this is not a partisan issue, this is an issue of constitutional due process and ending a law that- in too many instances- has made us question whether either a victim or their shooter has received the justice that they deserve. It is about ending a law that makes it less safe for all Floridians as we go about our daily lives."

Cohen has represented his South Tampa district since 2011. He's term-limited and announced his run for mayor in March. Other candidates in that race are council member Mike Suarez, small businessman Topher Morrison, former police chief Jane Castor, former county commissioner Ed Turanchik and retired banker and philanthropist David Straz.