A Florida police officer who was fired for bringing targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a training session has claimed that the targets were used as a no-shoot training tool, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
Port Canaveral, Fla. Police Sgt. Ron King on Saturday posted a video on YouTube explaining his side of the story.
“I am being accused of using a Trayvon Martin silhouette target for firearms training in a manner that is less than professional,” King said near the beginning of the video. “I take these allegations seriously, and I find that others are accusing me of something that I just plain did not do.”
King explained the nature of the targets in question.
“As a result of last year’s Trayvon Martin shooting, a company offered for sale a target of a faceless silhouette wearing a hoodie, with its hands in its pockets, one of which was holding two objects,” he said. “These objects in the hand were non-threatening, and the target was something that I viewed as an example of a no-shoot situation. While others have used it as a novelty, I view it as a tool for scenario-based firearms training. Although to date the targets have never been used, I did possess those targets for those training reasons.”
Watch King’s full video:
