5 lawmakers call on Justice Department to investigate case

Five Democratic members of Congress called Friday for the Justice Department to investigate a case in which a Florida man who shot and killed another man during an argument over a parking space was not arrested or charged by the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff of Pinellas County cited Florida’s Stand Your Ground law in declining to charge Michael Drejka, who the authorities say shot Markeis McGlockton last week in the parking lot outside a convenience store in Clearwater, Florida.

Drejka initiated a heated argument with McGlockton’s girlfriend on July 19, over whether she was permitted to park in a handicapped parking space, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri of Pinellas County said at a news conference the next day. Drejka, who is white, eventually shot and killed McGlockton, who was black, reigniting debate over the Florida law.

In a letter sent to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Friday, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into the killing of McGlockton. Sens. Kamala D. Harris, D-Calif., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., also signed onto the letter, as did two Florida members of the House of Representatives, Charlie Crist and Alcee L. Hastings, both Democrats.

“I applaud them for showing responsible leadership,” Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer representing McGlockton’s family, said of the politicians. “We should not be encouraging people to try to take the law into their own hands, start a confrontation and then kill an unarmed black man.”

Britany Jacobs, 25, was waiting in a car parked in a handicapped space while her boyfriend, McGlockton, and their 5-year-old son shopped in the Circle A Food Store, according to Gualtieri. He said that after Drejka, 47, began arguing with Jacobs over whether she had the proper permits to be in that space, McGlockton, 28, left the store and went up to Drejka.

In a video recorded by a surveillance camera, McGlockton is seen shoving Drejka and then appears to take a few steps back and start to turn away. Drejka then pulls out a gun and shoots him once. McGlockton was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Gualtieri said at the news conference on July 20 that his office had declined to file charges because of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which removes the obligation to retreat if a person feels threatened. The law frees a person to use deadly force “if he or she reasonably believes” it is necessary “to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.”

The Sheriff’s Office plans to send the case soon to the Pinellas County State Attorney’s Office to determine whether Drejka should be charged, Sgt.Spencer Gross, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, said Friday.