Whereas Trayvon Martin would have celebrated his 23rd birthday on February 5, 2018; Whereas, on February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, an African-American youth, was horrifically shot and killed while walking from his local 7-Eleven in Sanford, Florida, because he was viewed as suspicious by George Zimmerman; Whereas Zimmerman, a self-appointed, untrained neighborhood watch volunteer, admitted to police that he shot Martin in the chest; Whereas Trayvon Martin was racially profiled, stalked, chased, made to fight for his life, and ultimately murdered; Whereas Zimmerman raised a self-defense claim and Martin, as the deceased victim, was unable to rebut such claim; Whereas Trayvon Martin’s brutal death and the inconceivable fact that his killer remains free should not be ignored; Whereas over 2 million signatures have been collected on an online petition demanding justice for Martin’s family; Whereas Zimmerman’s unfounded assumptions and racial bias led to the use of deadly force; Whereas Trayvon Martin was a victim of the prejudice and societal isolation of Black boys and men; Whereas this case sets a horrific precedent of vigilante justice and compromises the integrity of the legal system; Whereas Florida’s Stand Your Ground law has been criticized by both the legal and law enforcement communities; Whereas John F. Timoney, the former Miami police chief, Philadelphia police commissioner, and deputy police commissioner in New York, has declared Stand Your Ground laws to be a recipe for disaster , which give citizens unfettered power and discretion with no accountability ; Whereas over 20 States have passed and implemented Stand Your Ground laws; Whereas Stand Your Ground laws dramatically and recklessly expand the right of citizens to use deadly force, and have been the subject of national scrutiny in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death