A proposed change to the self-defense law in Missouri is raising alarms in the state. Critics worry that the proposed law, perhaps appropriately labeled Senate Bill 666, would let all hell loose in Missouri by encouraging murder and even justifying racist violence. Specifically, the bill would create a presumption of self-defense for people who use “physical or deadly force” against another person. Basically, anyone who commits an act of violence, including killing another person, can claim self-defense or defense of a third party, and that claim will be automatically presumed valid unless prosecutors can definitively prove otherwise.
The new law would expand self-defense principles.
As the Washington Post details, this is a significant shift from traditional self-defense principles in which those who use force generally have to demonstrate that they reasonably feared for their life or safety. Under the proposed law, prosecutors would have to present “clear and convincing evidence” concerning the state of mind of the person who committed the violence. And authorities would have to convincingly make this “state of mind” argument before charges could even be filed, as opposed to proving ill motivations during a trial, which is generally the case.
In an interview with WDAM news, Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd argued that “It will be impossible in Missouri to disprove the possibility of self-defense” in many situations in which only the perpetrator and victim are present at the time of an act of violence. Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver was even blunter in his assessment of the proposed law. ”It would absolutely create chaos in the state of Missouri,” Oliver told KFVS News, adding that the bill is being referred to as the “Make Murder Legal Act.”
The current bill is the latest in a line of bills that could promote violence.
This current bill is the latest of several controversial laws passed in the state. In 2017, Missouri implemented a Stand Your Ground law, becoming one of several states to pass such a provision. The stand your ground principle allows people to use deadly force in confrontations even if they have the option of retreating from the confrontation instead. The stand your ground principle is most infamously the justification used in Florida by George Zimmerman when he was acquitted of murder for killing Trayvon Martin in 2012 — Zimmerman’s acquittal sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.
In 2021, the Republican-led state legislature passed a new gun law, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which forbade local and state law enforcement agencies from enforcing federal gun laws. Republican Governor Mike Parson signed this law despite record levels of gun violence in Missouri, mixed reactions from local law enforcement and the questionable constitutionality of the law — the Missouri Supreme Court is currently hearing a case filed against the law. Republican State Rep. Eric Burlison sponsored both the 2021 gun law and the current self-defense proposal.
Missouri’s history of racial violence causes concern over the new bill.
In addition to its rising rate of gun crimes, Missouri has a history of racialized violence. According to one study, at least 60 lynchings of Black people occurred in Missouri between 1877 and 1950, the second-most of any state outside the Deep South. In 1917, a dispute between Black and white laborers turned into the deadly East St. Louis Race Riot, a multiday attack that left as many as 100 Black residents dead. More recently, the 2014 killing of Black teenager Michael Brown by police in Ferguson led to months of protests in one of the first major Black Lives Matter campaigns. In 2020, St. Louis couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey waved guns at BLM protesters marching past their home. The two lawyers pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and intimidation charges but were later pardoned by Gov. Parson.
Given the long history and recent experiences of racism and racialized violence in Missouri, critics fear that the new law would disproportionately be used to justify the killing of Black men. Lindsey Simmons, a former candidate for office in the state legislature, tweeted that “Senate Bill 666 makes Missouri a safe haven for the lynching of Black men.”
Because this is Missouri and there’s no shortage of racism, I also want you all to know about one of the worst bills I have ever seen in Missouri General Assembly.
Senate Bill 666 makes Missouri a safe haven for the lynching of black men.
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— Lindsey Simmons (@LynzforCongress) February 1, 2022
Use of force against police is, of course, not covered by the proposed law.
Interestingly, the bill makes an exception for the use of force against police. In those instances, a civilian wouldn’t be given the same benefit of the doubt that they were acting in their own defense or the defense of others. There have been a number of high-profile cases of police killing legally armed Black people or their companions after police mistakenly raided their apartments. In March 2020, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot to death by police who executed a no-knock warrant on her apartment as she slept. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was initially arrested on felony charges for firing a single shot at the officers, who he assumed were home invaders — these charges were eventually dropped. More recently, Amir Locke was killed by Minneapolis police who executed a no-knock warrant on the apartment of Locke’s cousin where Locke was sleeping that night. Locke was shot by police for having a gun that he was licensed to carry. Because Missouri Senate Bill 666 includes an exception for police, the new law presumably would not strengthen the self-defense rights of people who find themselves in similar positions to Walker or Locke.
Missouri Senate Bill 666 was recently debated by the State Senate’s Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee. Meanwhile, a collection of Missouri prosecutors, sheriffs and local police departments signed a letter opposing the bill, arguing that it would impede their jobs. The bill has the support of Mark McCloskey, who is currently running for U.S. Senate, while Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel criticized the bill, saying, “This bill is aptly named because it would drag Missouri right into hell.” With such divisions within the state, the debate over the bill will likely be heated for some time.
