Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) remained firm in his support of the state’s “stand your ground” law Thursday night during a meeting with protesters seeking to repeal it in the wake of George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, the Miami Herald reported.
Scott made an unexpected appearance at the Capitol in Tallahassee, where he told student protest group Dream Defenders that he would not convene a special legislative session to review the law, according to the Herald. The protesters then spent the night in the Capitol, vowing not to leave until Scott puts the law up for review.
“We think ‘stand your ground’ has created a culture that allowed Zimmerman to think that what he did was okay,” Dream Defenders’ Gabriel Pendas said at the meeting, according to the Herald.
“I believe ‘stand your ground’ should stay in the books,” Scott responded, as quoted by the Herald. “I agree with you, we should not have racial profiling.”
