Sgt. Ron King was fired last week from the Port Canaveral, Florida police force for bringing two Trayvon Martin-style hoodie targets to a department training session. As Port Canaveral interim CEO John Walsh told wftv.com in explaining the reason for King’s dismissal, “Whether his act was hatred or stupidity, none is tolerable.” But King isn’t going down without a fight. He’s taken to YouTube and posted an explanation of his side of the story (spoiler alert: he said he was using it as a no-shoot example). Is that good enough for you?

[h/t Ira W.]

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78 COMMENTS

  3. duh, you have to be DHS then you can shoot at no-hesitation targets of women, children and old folks. come on stop being a racist and get with the program. and don’t get caught shooting at LEO or UN targets or you’ll be labeled a terrorist and drone killed

  4. What if it was a white guy in a hoodie? Is it okay to shoot at his feet? It’s a compromise, right?

  5. First, his response sucks. That being said using a target representing Trayvon Martin is something less than a fireable offense. Since the target is not exhibiting thuggish behavior it is clearly a parody.

  6. It was dumb to bring those to work, ‘no shoot’ target or not. Hopefully he’s not mischaracterizing his own actions. If it wasn’t done in a ‘hur hur Trayvon target hur hur let’s shoot it!’ type of manner, then he shouldn’t have lost his job over it. It’s still quite the lack of judgment though.

    • If the purpose of the targets was as he stated, then no, it wasn’t dumb to bring them to his job (as a police firearms instructor). That would be an example of him doing his job and trying to teach.

  7. Trayvon Martin was a punk drug dealer that tried to kill a hispanic man (racism).

    HE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED JUST LIKE THAT PUNK RODNEY KING.

    • ??? Is this a parody account?

      The beating of Rodney King after he was subdued was not justice. The shooting of Trayvon Martin was very well justified if you believe Zimmerman’s story or any story you can come up with that agrees with the evidence. There is physical evidence and there WERE eye witness accounts to back up Zimmerman’s story (until the eye witness was pressured into changing her account some months after the event) where there is none of either to support the media’s stalking/murder story.

      He was on his back getting his face beat in when he shot, and there was no evidence that he ever hit or assaulted Trayvon. Pretty clear cut self defense there.

  8. The Trayvon Martin situation is what inspired me to finally get my CCW. I’m a young Black male who from time to time likes to wear hoodies as I live in a city that is often wet and cold. At the time of the incident I didn’t own a car so I had to take the bus and part of my daily commute to and from work involved walking through neighborhoods where I “didn’t belong”. I wasn’t there. I can’t claim to know what happened between those two but I could have easily been profiled and killed the same way he was.

    Now I carry my trusty 1911 and somebody bent on attacking me will get their world rocked by a face full of .45 ACP. I have been around firearms my entire life but this event was the last straw for me to carry cocked and locked at all times outside of my house.

    • ” I can’t claim to know what happened between those two but I could have easily been profiled and killed the same way he was.”

      Only if you decided to attack the man. From almost every account we’ve heard Zimmerman may have been a complete dick, but he did not attack first.

      So, regardless of whether you’re black or white, wear hooded sweatshirts or tank tops, walk in the “white” or “black” part of town or any of the other focal points you’ve made to in an attempt to parallel yourself to Trayvon; if you’re on top of a guy punching him because he simply profiled you out of his own suspicious nature and questioned why you were there, at some point while you’re beating his head into the sidewalk you would deserve what’s coming to you too.

      • I’m going to be honest. I’m a white guy and I once wore hoodies also, but found that people in the neighborhood tended to stare at me. The moral of the story – don’t wear hoodies – wear a nice clean button up shirt and take pride in doing so.

        People like to say not to stereotype – but it is human nature. If a boy gets stung by a bee he will avoid bees and anything that “looks” like a bee in the future. Also – if a critter looks like a squirrel, acts like a squirrel, sounds like a squirrel and does squirrelish things – its is probably a squirrel. Zimmerman stereotyped a criminal (it doesn’t mean Trayvon was a criminal). Again, it is fear that destroys. Zimmerman followed Martin for fear he was a criminal. Martin feared Zimmerman because he wouldn’t stop following him. One way or another, one attacked the other. One of them died, because of fear.

        I agree you should carry – everyone should – its your right, but face your fear. You should only take your weapon out if you truly intend to use it – and only if its absolutely necessary.

        • That is insulting. Sir or M’am, I have a decent career and I already know how to dress appropriately. I didn’t get this job dressing like a clown. On my day off I want to keep myself warm and dry without worrying about asthetics. I have every right to wear whatever I wish. I shouldn’t have to address and justify this foolishness to anyone. The right to dress however I see fit is up there with the 2nd amendment, which I will use to defend that freedom. Don’t talk to me like I’m some kind of child.

    • you can’t get accurate head shots with the gangster grip. and being “around guns” don’t make you good for shit. Be around gun ranges and shoot targets cause with you being black if the guy that attack you, which will most likely be also black makes you draw and you miss and hit a “white man” your gone for life buddy. Just saying.

      Its just funny to me how now everything sparks the martin’s case argument and stereotype. give it up people when the autopsy report shows martin’s only injury was a gun shot wound it will make the case almost 100% a slam dunk in favor of zimmerman.

      • My grandfather was a WWII veteran in one of the few all black Army regiments. He served in North Africa and Italy. He is the man that taught me how to hunt and live off the land, how to handle a gun safely and how to be accurate and lethal with a rifle. That’s what I mean by “being around guns” you FLAME DELETED.

        How dare you stereotype me for having a “gangsta grip. I’m intelligent enough to discern that the sights are located on top of the firearm for a reason, FLAME DELETED.

        I’m an educated and experienced man. From my personal experience of being a Black man, which I assume you to be white and therefore have none, you can’t tell me what I’ve seen on the streets. I’m from Detroit and I know what the police and other less than savory characters do when they see someone like me walking down the street in “their part of town”.

        I wasn’t there with Martin and Zimmerman. I don’t know what happened but I’m going to trust my experiences and instincts before I let someone tell me that I and people like me are the problem. FLAME DELETED.

    • Were you walking through neighborhoods filled with other young black men? Its other (young) black men that you should really be afraid of.

        • No silly. Read BradN’s explanation for his inspiration to the whole Zimmerman affair. I would be more scared of walking through a black neighborhood than a white one.

  9. I guess this all goes to show that “No Shoot Targets” should be strictly limited to depictions of Boy Scouts helping little old ladies to cross the street. I am sorry Sgt. King has to learn a lesson in public prudence so harshly. Hopefully, some other PD will appreciate his skills and give him a second chance.

    • If his story is true, I hope gets his job back or sues the hell out of his department for lost back pay.

  10. Alright, I’ll be honest…I would have laughed if a colleague brought those out. Sounds like something that might happen often on the range. A guy brings a target, everyone laughs at the joke, life goes on. My guess is that this guy was already in hot water and/or he had a superior or colleague with close ties to a superior that did not like him. Otherwise it sounds like a wrist slapping/stern talking to type of event.

  11. So let me get this straight. In FL, it’s okay for a cop to beat a black guy to a pulp but it’s a dischargeable offense to use his picture for a target. And progressive discipline is an alien concept. Got it.

  12. I don’t believe him. His story pegs my BS meter. His judgement was extremely poor. I really would like to side with him & tell the liberal guardians of racial justice to go fu.k themselves, in this case I can’t, Randy

  13. The Trayvon Martin situation is the straw that broke that camel’s back for me. I have been around guns my whole life but I never felt the need to get my CPL. When this mess happened I could easily imagine myself getting caught in a similar situation.

    I am a young Black male that sometimes wears a hoodie due to the weather here being often wet and cold. At the time of the Trayvon incident I didn’t own a car so walking to the appropriate bus stops required me to walk through neighborhoods I “didn’t belong”.

    I can easily see myself being profiled in a similar way. We all know there’s a bunch of idiots out there that will overreact to my presence the same way Zimmerman did. Who knows what really happened, I wasn’t there so I’m not going to be too harsh with Zimmerman but this woke me up and made me realize that my 1911 isn’t just a range toy or a home defense weapon. I now legally carry my 1911 cocked and locked at all times outside the boundaries of my home.

    It’s a shame I felt the need to shift in that direction but now I know if someone wants to kill me for passing through their neighborhood I will rock their world with a face full of .45 ACP.

    • What’s sad is most minorities would benefit greatly from gun ownership, but they tend to be liberal/Democrat and seem to be against it on principle.

      A black man walking around has more to fear in regards to an attack than any white man likely ever will. Yet I see white men claiming they need their gun for a 2 minute run to the store, but it’s not the case with anyone else seemingly.

      • Well I guess that all depends upon where your walking doesnt it. 🙂 I’m more a fearing a man in a blue uniform black or white than any man on the street.

        • Cops should be allowed to SHOOT TO KILL any one threatening them or running from them (running is an admission of guilt).

          Martin attacked this man and tried to murder him and, like Rodney King, got what he deserved!

      • The blacks do carry guns, lots of them! They just don’t bother registering the guns, since the legal owners did that before their guns were stolen.

    • Regardless of the Travyon Martin situation, your decision to carry is a good one.

      The world is cold. A white guy can get accosted in the middle of the street for no reason. A black guy can be accosted in the middle of the street for no reason. These things happen.

      Whether yo’re being profiled or you are just the nearest target of opportunity, a gun might mean the difference between your life and death. People seem to forget that alternative outcome when they bitch about firearms.

    • Also, think smart. White or black – don’t wear a hoodie. Wear a smile and a button up shirt.

    • I feel your pain, and I agree 100% with your sentiments. As a responsible armed citizen, I have the back of every person, what ever their background, that uses their legally owned weapon to defend themselves and their family.

  14. I don’t believe him either. That said, what he did shouldn’t have been an offense worthy of losing his job over. I’d like to know who told on him as well as who leaked this story to the news media. I tend to think someone in the department really disliked Sgt. King.

    • consider this, he is a police officer whose job it is to protect and serve the public. He brings this target out and you guys dont think it is a problem? Part of his bosses (citizenry) doesnt see it as a joke, I am not surprised he was fired as he should have been. What if it had been a target of jews or muslims, he got what he deserverd, even if it is just stupidity he is too stupid to work for the citizenry.

      • You tell me how a faceless hoodie silhouette is automatically a black man target? Please explain…

      • “What if it had been a target of jews or muslims”

        Who cares? It is just a target. There are plenty of targets of white guys out there. You could take a picture of my face and shoot at it all day long if you want to. You could even yell mean things at it while shooting at it. I don’t give a crap. It would be a little funny. People need to lighten up. Because of the Skittles it makes it out to be Trayvon so the guy should have gotten in trouble for being insensitive, but not fired for crying out loud.

        • SKITTLES? Now thats just fvcking racist right there….we’re gonna decide who a target looks like based upon what they got in their pockets now?

          I’d have thought skittles was for gay folks, don’t black people carry fried chicken and watermelons? Must be a JEW target if he has a bunch of money hanging out his pockets? How about an old fat white guy target if he has a NRA phamplet in there?

          Bull$#it.

  15. I’m tired of of being a suspect, I am tired of being able to be shot by the police when they feel like it and knowing that they willl never be convicted. I dont know what happened in the Martin case, but I do know that I pay the salaries of the police and they need to start respecting me regardless of what I am wearing. Yes I am a black man and I am tired of being a legitimate target for the police just because I am a black man

    • john, first thanks for the response, if we dont talk about it we cant really deal with it. Do you really think that Black men commit most of the crime in this country when they represent such a small part of the population? Or is it possible that they are the ones that are prosecuted the most, get the most harsh sentences and have the worst attorneys? I dont excuse criminal behavior black or white or whatever, but to think that blacks are the primary criminal demographic I have to say is a bit naieve.

      • A numbers game. If you took a cross section of art fraud, wire fraud, phishing schemes…there will usually be one group or another predisposed to those things by the chain of circumstance. This is not saying that any community is “bad”. It’s saying that when an area is endemic to low income, poverty, and zero potential for growth, crime results. There’s hispanic and white neighborhoods that have the same issues. But in those neighborhoods, crime almost always becomes king.

      • @Morris
        Yes, they actually do commit most of the crime. The vast majority of murders are intra-racial, and look at Chicago, blacks kill each other at a rate of 20-25 times the rate of whites. See my post above if you want references, or check the CPD’s website yourself.

        • In my city 75% of the violence comes from the black welfare ghetto; that is a FACT! Even decent hard-working blacks won’t go there!

        • Matt that’s true in certain areas no question, but the comment I made was relative to crime in the country as a whole. I am sure American Indians commit most murders on a reservation too. They are the demographic that lives there, but to say they are responsible for most of the crime in the country would be incorrect

          • At best, the beliefs that drive comments such as this are based on a desire for everyone to just get along. In my experience, I’ve found these beliefs to be founded on class striving- a need to prove that one’s beliefs are morally and intellectually superior to those of others. This is the very basis of the current anti-gun hysteria.

            Morris, you sling accusations of naivete, state that black men are targeted because they are black males, and imply that black men do not and cannot commit violent crimes in large numbers due to their being a small part of the national demographic. I find you to be naive and misinformed.

            I suggest you consult the statistics compiled in the Uniform Crime Report- while you can, that is. The article linked describes the Obama and Holder efforts to conceal the facts about what racial cohort commits the most violent crime in the US. The information is still relatively easy to find and consult, and I suggest you take the first step in educating yourself by reading Sailer’s well-documented article. I’ll include a small excerpt to get you started:

            Across the 29 years from 1980 through 2008, blacks comprised 52.5 percent of all homicide offenders (Cooper and Smith, Table 1), even though they only made up about 13 percent of the population.

            With gun control a hot topic, it’s worth noting that the report says that African Americans committed 56.9 percent of all homicides with a gun (Cooper and Smith, Table 7).

            You know that stereotype of young black males as dangerous? According to the White House, it’s true:

            While young black males have accounted for about 1% of the population from 1980 to 2008…(b)y 2008, young black males made up about a quarter of all homicide offenders (27%) (Figure 23b).

            Take a good look at your own community, Morris. It might be uncomfortable, but it also might be an opportunity to take responsibility and provide leadership- that is, if you value anything other than blaming others and bemoaning your fate.

            • Sir are you in one of the states where POT is legal? I never said, implied or suggested that Black males don’t commit crimes. Or that they don’t commit them at disproportionately high levels in some communities.

              What ever you are reading into my comments let me assure you that I am not that guy, I do live in the real world.

              • Nah Morris, I’m in one of those states where we don’t tolerate lying sh*theels.

                I never said, implied, or suggested that you stated that blacks commit no crimes. I said nothing about “some communities”. These are suggestions brought up by you due to your lack of reading comprehension, your desire to obfuscate, or both.

                Here’s what you did write:
                “Do you really think that Black men commit most of the crime in this country when they represent such a small part of the population? Or is it possible that they are the ones that are prosecuted the most, get the most harsh sentences and have the worst attorneys?”

                -and-

                “…but to think that blacks are the primary criminal demographic I have to say is a bit naieve.”

                Here’s the relevant Sailer quote summing up the numbers from the Obama administration’s Justice Department:

                Across the 29 years from 1980 through 2008, blacks comprised 52.5 percent of all homicide offenders (Cooper and Smith, Table 1), even though they only made up about 13 percent of the population.

                With gun control a hot topic, it’s worth noting that the report says that African Americans committed 56.9 percent of all homicides with a gun (Cooper and Smith, Table 7).

                So blacks are killing people more than any other ethnicity. And they kill more blacks than any other ethnicity. And they do it everywhere, not just in some communities. And they do it at a rate almost eight times higher than white folk. And they kill four times more white folks than the reverse.

                So sure, you can imply that crappy attorneys and evil whitey are responsible for all the consequences visited upon violent black criminals. And you can go on crying Rayciss! to the white-guilt crowd for as long as it makes you happy.

                But numbers don’t lie, and despite the best efforts of Obama and Holder and your friendly white-guilt hand wringers, many folks are starting to pay a bit more attention to those numbers. And many of those people are tired of being blamed for the abject failure of your “community” to stem the tide of violence and destruction it creates. Smoke that, Morris.

          • Sailer’s article:

            http://takimag.com/article/guns_and_race_steve_sailer/page_2#axzz2QXuAWoLW

            For years, the press has been explaining that more gun control is necessary to keep white men from killing everybody. For example, last Friday the Washington Post featured an opinion article that began:

            Imagine if African American men and boys were committing mass shootings month after month, year after year. Articles and interviews would flood the media, and we’d have political debates demanding that African Americans be “held accountable.”

            Friday is a slow day in the news business, so it appears to have become an attention-seeking tradition in the prestige media to post extremely stupid anti-white articles on that day, such as the one involving that “mysterious” murder of the black gay politician in Mississippi from four Fridays ago.

            Much to the displeasure of the press, however, unwelcome commenters on articles about guns and murder often post links to the Administration’s own “Race” Web page on the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Homicide Trends website. There, federal bean counters stated:

            In 2005, offending rates for blacks were more than 7 times higher than the rates for whites.

      • They don’t commit the majority of the crime, but they do come surprisingly close. 40% of jail and prison inmates are black men. That same demographic only makes up 6% of the population of the country as a whole.

    • If he’s telling the truth, do you still have a problem with him using the target as an example of when to use proper judgment and not shoot?

    • Then it might help to clean up your own neighborhoods rather than moving to live around all these raycis white people. Isnt it funny how in places like out here in Chicago blacks commit murders at a rate 20 – 25 times the rate of whites. It is quite likely that this disparity is even greater, since only 25-33% of Chicago murders result in a arrest, and the #1 complaint of the CPD is the no snitch policy in the ghettos. But hey I’m sure you’ll find a way to blame whitey for that too.
      http://crimeinchicago.blogspot.com/2012/06/2011-chicago-statistics-on-murder-and.html
      http://www.occidentaldissent.com/2011/06/15/the-color-of-crime-chicago/

    • Blame Jesse, Al Sharpton, and the NAACP for keeping blacks on the “plantation” called welfare!

      In my city 75% of violence comes from the black welfare ghetto; that is a fact!

      if you have a Pit Bull running around attacking kids you tend to watch pit bulls more then collies; same thing!

    • I very much like the NY attorney who finally got sick enough of the twice-daily stop and frisks to put his face on several billboards as not wanted for anything.

      Humiliation works.

  16. I think he did probably get screwed by someone who didn’t like him. Same old story of workplace politics you find everywhere from the factory floor to the high rise office building. Different rules for different folks.

    He certainly exhibited stupidity and possibly racist behavior. Has every cop who’s exhibited the same been fired-hell no.

  17. How the fVck exactly does a faceless hoodie target “resemble” Trayvon Martin? WTF is wrong with people and their overly sensitive political correctness these days? Really? Give me a fvucking break…

  18. Modern America: everything has to be so sanitized and sterilized that there is nothing left of any substance to anything.

    • Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows are still okay — unless we’re talking about the NRA, in which case invective is the order of the day.

  19. such a load of crap. he’s gotta know that they are not meant as “no shoot”s or whatever, and so he’s enriching the cynical makers of the targets. if he doesn’t, then he’s too stupid to be a cop anymore anyways.

    • Just because it is not meant as a no shoot target does not mean it can’t be used as one. If his story is true then what he did was exactly what he is meant to do at his job. He found a target that he viewed as a good no shoot target for training people.

  20. I am not sure I believe him because there is really no way for me to know. If his story is indeed true then he is getting screwed over. Even if he was using it as a no shoot target he really should have used better judgment. Even if he is lying I am not sure he deserves to lose his job for this, seems a bit like overkill. My guess either way is he has an enemy where he works.

    • His family likely still has an interest, as well as any future potential Zimmerman followees.

      Who cares about most of California’s gun laws? They’re old news.

  22. Sailer’s article:

    http://takimag.com/article/guns_and_race_steve_sailer/page_2#axzz2QXuAWoLW

    or years, the press has been explaining that more gun control is necessary to keep white men from killing everybody. For example, last Friday the Washington Post featured an opinion article that began:

    Imagine if African American men and boys were committing mass shootings month after month, year after year. Articles and interviews would flood the media, and we’d have political debates demanding that African Americans be “held accountable.”

    Friday is a slow day in the news business, so it appears to have become an attention-seeking tradition in the prestige media to post extremely stupid anti-white articles on that day, such as the one involving that “mysterious” murder of the black gay politician in Mississippi from four Fridays ago.

    Much to the displeasure of the press, however, unwelcome commenters on articles about guns and murder often post links to the Administration’s own “Race” Web page on the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Homicide Trends website. There, federal bean counters stated:

    In 2005, offending rates for blacks were more than 7 times higher than the rates for whites.

  23. Nah Morris, I’m in one of those states where we don’t tolerate lying sh*theels.

    I never said, implied, or suggested that you stated that blacks commit no crimes. I said nothing about “some communities”. These are suggestions brought up by you due to your lack of reading comprehension, your desire to obfuscate, or both.

    Here’s what you did write:
    “Do you really think that Black men commit most of the crime in this country when they represent such a small part of the population? Or is it possible that they are the ones that are prosecuted the most, get the most harsh sentences and have the worst attorneys?”

    -and-

    “…but to think that blacks are the primary criminal demographic I have to say is a bit naieve.”

    Here’s the relevant Sailer quote summing up the numbers from the Obama administration’s Justice Department:

    Across the 29 years from 1980 through 2008, blacks comprised 52.5 percent of all homicide offenders (Cooper and Smith, Table 1), even though they only made up about 13 percent of the population.

    With gun control a hot topic, it’s worth noting that the report says that African Americans committed 56.9 percent of all homicides with a gun (Cooper and Smith, Table 7).

    So blacks are killing people more than any other ethnicity. And they kill more blacks than any other ethnicity. And they do it everywhere, not just in some communities. And they do it at a rate almost eight times higher than white folk. And they kill four times more white folks than the reverse.

    So sure, you can imply that crappy attorneys and evil whitey are responsible for all the consequences visited upon violent black criminals. And you can go on crying Rayciss! to the white-guilt crowd for as long as it makes you happy.

    But numbers don’t lie, and despite the best efforts of Obama and Holder and your friendly white-guilt hand wringers, many folks are starting to pay a bit more attention to those numbers. And many of those people are tired of being blamed for the abject failure of your “community” to stem the tide of violence and destruction it creates. Smoke that, Morris.

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