Prosecutor: Parking lot shooter was a 'vigilante'

Prosecutor: Parking lot shooter was a 'vigilante'


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CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — A prosecutor told jurors the white man who fatally shot an unarmed black man after being shoved to the ground is a "vigilante" who carried a handgun because he liked provoking confrontations.

Prosecutor Scott Rosenwasser told jurors during closing arguments Friday in Clearwater, Florida, that Michael Drejka provoked Markeis McGlockton to shove him by yelling at McGlockton's girlfriend because she was parked in a handicapped-assessable space and then fired as the 28-year-old McGlockton started to flee.

Rosenwasser said the 49-year-old Drejka is guilty of manslaughter because he had no reasonable belief that he was about to be seriously injured or killed during the July 2018 altercation.

In video shown to the jury, Drejka told detectives that after McGlockton pushed him, he feared he was about to be further attacked and severely injured.

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