‘Stand your ground’ US review urged

US senator John McCain is backing President Barack Obama’s call for the so-called “stand your ground” laws in Florida and other states to be re-examined in the wake of the George Zimmerman case.

“The ‘stand your ground’ law may be something that needs to be reviewed by the Florida legislature or any other legislature that has passed such legislation,” McCain said on CNN’s State of the Union yesterday, two days after Obama discussed Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

The Arizona Republican said he thinks the self-defence law should be reviewed in his home state, too. “I’m confident that the members of the Arizona legislature will, because it is very controversial legislation,” McCain said. Florida and Arizona are among 30 states with “stand your ground” laws on the books.

Crowds chanted “Justice! Justice!” as they rallied in dozens of US cities on Saturday, urging authorities to change self-defence laws and press federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman who was found not guilty in the shooting to death of the unarmed teenager.

The Rev Al Sharpton’s National Action Network organised the “Justice for Trayvon” rallies and vigils outside federal buildings in at least 101 cities one week after a jury delivered the verdict for Zimmerman in Martin’s 2012 death in Florida.

The case has become a flashpoint in separate but converging national debates over self-defence, guns, and race relations. Zimmerman, who successfully claimed that he was protecting himself when he shot Martin, identifies himself as Hispanic. Martin was black.

In Atlanta, speakers noted that the rally took place in the shadows of federal buildings named for two figures who had vastly differing views on civil rights and racial equality: Richard B Russell was a Georgia governor and US senator elected in the Jim Crow South; the Rev Martin Luther King Jr is the face of the civil rights movement.

In New York, hundreds of people — including Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, and music superstars Jay-Z and Beyoncé — gathered in the heat. Fulton told the crowd she was determined to fight for changes needed to ensure black youths are no longer viewed with suspicion because of their skin colour.