UF law professors weighed in on the roles of race and self-defense in the Trayvon Martin shooting at a Wednesday night discussion.
Six professors from UF’s Levin College of Law discussed Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense law and racism. They also responded to audience members’ comments.
The college’s Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations hosted the panel. About 130 people attended the event.
The panelists said George Zimmerman, who said he shot the teenage Trayvon in self-defense, should be arrested. They agreed, however, that he would probably be acquitted if brought to court.
Professor Monique Haughton-Worrell, who said she used to practice law in Sanford, was concerned that a jury might be racist.
“I don’t support any argument that there was not sufficient evidence for an arrest,” Haughton-Worrell said. “I would even make an argument that were Zimmerman a black man, Sanford Police would have made an arrest.”
Professor Katheryn Russell-Brown also believed race was at the core of the case.
“While this does not involve a shooting by police, it’s been the Sanford Police Department’s response that has been the rallying cry for many across the nation,” she said.
UF law student Gentry Mander, 24, said she was curious about why Trayvon's death has gotten more attention within the black community than the proportion of young black men in jail.
After the event, she said she had wanted to see more discussion about the facts of the case.
Brenda Brown, an administrative assistant in the College of Dentistry, said she sees the faces of her brothers, father and 15-month-old grandson in Trayvon.
One of the first audience members to comment, Brown was choked up as she spoke to the panelists.
“This touched me more so from a mother’s perspective,” Brown, 52, said after the event. “I think, ‘What is so scary about our black men that means they must be shot?’”
