Stevie Wonder Won't Play Florida Until 'Stand Your Ground' Is Abolished
DETROIT (WWJ) - Michigan-native musician Stevie Wonder says he won't perform in Florida or any other place that has a "stand your ground" law that allows people to use deadly force if they believe their life is in danger.
'The truth is that ... those who we have lost in the battle for justice — wherever that fits, in any part of the world — we can't bring them back," Wonder said, at a festival in Quebec, British Colombia. "What we can do is we can let out voices be heard, and we can vote, in various countries around the world, for change and equality for everybody.
"And I know I'm not everybody; I'm just one person. I'm a human being, but for the gift that God has given me, and for whatever I mean, I decided today that until the stand your ground law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again," Wonder said. "... Wherever I find that law exists I will not perform in that state ..."
The singer's comments were caught on video by a member of the audience and posted to YouTube after George Zimmerman was cleared in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teen.
Multiple U.S. states have some form of a stand-your-ground law, which states that a person may justifiably use force in self-defense when there is reasonable belief of a threat, without an obligation to exercise reasonably safe retreat options.
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