Online PSA Recreates Trayvon Martin Shooting

An anti-gun group released an online public service announcement that recreates the Trayvon Martin shooting. As reported by several outlets, the online PSA was released by the Coalition To Stop Gun Violence. As reported by Central Florida News 13, the video “highlights their fears” regarding Stand Your Ground laws.

On the CSGV website, they refer back to centuries of history where the sparing of human life was emphasized by law. They proceed to lay blame at the feet of organizations such as the National Rifle Association and the American Legislative Exchange Council for funding campaigns to get these Stand Your Ground laws passed.

“Now you can provoke a fight, and if you’re losing that fight, kill the person you attacked.” the site says. CSGV believes that these laws allow “individuals to kill when there merely ‘fear’ great bodily harm.” They also point out that the idea of proportional force has been “obliterated” with the passage of Stand Your Ground laws.

The makers of this online PSA also claim that the Stand Your Ground laws remove the duty to retreat in public. The Coaliton states that the laws “allow individuals to shoot and kill, even when they could otherwise walk away” from an incident. They also have a petition available for visitors to sign.

The video shows a man walking wearing a jacket similar to the one George Zimmerman was wearing that night. Another person is shown in the distance, wearing a hoodie. The 911 call plays in the background of the online PSA.

Once the actual confrontation takes place, the PSA shows what is presumed to be Martin lying on the ground with a hole in his chest. They then show numerous bodies in similar positions, each one with the name of a state on top of it.

Do you think this online PSA exploitative goes too far? Could you make a case that it exploits the tragedy?