In late October, the Wall Street. Journal ran a big piece claiming that “it’s easier than ever to kill someone in America and get away with it,” because of Stand Your Ground laws. The paper claimed that justifiable homicides by civilians increased by 59% from 2019 through 2024 in a “large sample of cities and counties” in 30 states with Stand Your Ground statutes, compared with a smaller 16% in in total homicides in the same jurisdictions.
As we noted at the time, the WSJ’s piece had several flaws, including ignoring the fact that, besides the 30 states with Stand Your Ground statutes, there are another eight states where Stand Your Ground is found in common law. And importantly, the paper’s investigation didn’t really spend any time at all considering whether the law is allowing more people to legitimately act in self-defense.
Well, now the WSJ is out with a followup of sorts, this one allegedly focusing on “the self-defense cases that made Jacksonville No. 1 in legal homicides.” And yet again, the paper’s reporting alleges that Stand Your Ground laws are letting an untold number of people get away with murder.
Florida’s landmark stand-your-ground law, intended to afford citizens greater self-defense protections, appears to give incentive for police and prosecutors to classify tough cases as justifiable homicides, according to some criminal-justice researchers.
“They just use it as a mechanism for getting rid of difficult-to-prosecute cases, cases that weren’t a lead-pipe cinch to get a conviction,” said Gary Kleck, professor emeritus of criminology at Florida State University. “It became sort of a garbage dump for difficult-to-handle homicide cases.”
Justifiable homicides help reduce crime rates because they aren’t included in violent crime statistics.
Nationally, Jacksonville ranks No. 1: From 2021 through 2024, it had a larger share of its homicides classified as justifiable killings by civilians than any U.S. city or county with a population greater than 500,000, the Journal found. The Journal analysis, using data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation supplied by police agencies, included only cases cleared as a justifiable homicide before reaching court.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reported 54 justifiable homicides by civilians to the FBI during those four years. The sheriff’s office website and records list even more—a total of 65 for that period.
According to the WSJ, about 12% of Jacksonville homicides between 2021 and 2024 were ruled justified. Charlotte, North Carolina was a close second with about 11% of all homicides considered justifiable, and Indianapolis was in third place with 10% of homicides ruled justified.
So, if we’re supposed to believe that 12% is an unreasonably high number of justified homicides, what’s the “right” number? Milwaukee and Honolulu (oddly enough, given its restrictive gun laws) are the cities in non-Stand Your Ground states with the highest percentage of justified homicides. A little more than 6% of all homicides are ruled justified in those locations; half the number of Jacksonville, but still well above the numbers in Stand Your Ground cities like Philadelphia and San Antonio.
I don’t think there is a “right” number, and honestly, I’m less than impressed by the one case the WSJ dug into as an example of the supposedly sketchy outcome of homicide investigations in Jacksonville. Yep, despite the headline, the paper really only focused on a single incident, which is another problematic aspect of its investigation.
The case involved the death of 16-year-old Khalian Fedrick. What makes it interesting is the fact that the person police say acted in self-defense in shooting Fedrick denied shooting him at all. Anthony Jean Pierre, who police named as Fedrick’s likely killer, maintains that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, a bystander who was shot himself by a stranger who also shot Fedrick.
“After I got hit, I just ran,” Pierre said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “I ran for my life.” He didn’t know the investigation had been resolved: “I heard nothing from police,” he said.
Neither had Fedrick’s mother. Williams said she didn’t know the outcome of the case until she was told by the Journal, more than 13 months after Mitlyng’s 2024 report. “Why wasn’t I notified?” Williams said. “I’m sick over this.”
Now, it is unquestionably messed up that Fedrick’s mom wasn’t informed that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office had closed the books on her son’s death, but as unfathomable as that it is, it doesn’t mean that law enforcement made the wrong call in determining her son’s death was justified. As it turns out, Pierre has a pretty good motive for denying that he shot Fedrick; he’s a convicted felon who’s not allowed to touch a gun or ammunition. And in fact, as the WSJ notes deep in its story:
Pierre was taken into custody on Nov. 1 and charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon in connection with evidence obtained on the day of Fedrick’s killing. His first court appearance is set for this month. The Office of the Public Defender for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida didn’t respond to requests for comment.
According to police, it’s believed that Fedrick was shot by Pierre after attempting to rob him during a drug deal; again, not something that Pierre would be eager to admit even if that’s what happened.
Is it possible that police and prosecutors are classifying hard-to-solve murders as justified homicides? I suppose, but if this is the best evidence that the WSJ could come up with I’m not convinced. Frankly, this looks like just another unjustified attack on Stand Your Ground laws, and I can’t help but wonder what other hit pieces are in the paper’s pipeline to be published in the future.
Editor’s Note: The ant-gun media is intent on dragging our Second Amendment rights through the mud as part of their anti-2A agenda..
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