MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new bill filed in Tennessee would allow the use of deadly force to protect property, but groups in our area say if this legislation is passed, it would actually make our streets more dangerous.
“SCLC is in opposition to this proposed bill,” Rev. Walter Womack, the President of SCLC, said.
They are standing together in unity. members of the Memphis Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference spoke against Tennessee House Bill 11.
Filed in November by two Tennessee representatives the bill, “justifies the use of deadly force against another to protect real or tangible, movable property under certain circumstances.”
“This bill strips away any due process that one may have. We live in a country that was built on freedom,” James Williams, a SCLC Member, said.
SCLC members say they believe the bill would open the door for more cases like Ahmaud Arberry and take this nation back during a time when many are already fed up.
“This would be the opposite of the expression make America great again. Does that mean we go backwards?” Bishop Sam Blount, the Vice President of SCLC, said.
They believe current laws like the castle doctrine grant enough rights and protections but say this new proposal goes beyond that and would value property over people.
“And give them the authority to let a car or flower be equivalent to the life of an American citizen,” Blount said.
Something they say they will firmly stand against and encourage others to do the same.
Republican Representative Jay Reedy told our sister station in Nashville this was not the final version of the bill and he’s meeting with experts and taking comments from citizens to make the legislation more specific to Tennessee.
It house bill eleven passes in the next legislative session it would take effect next July.
