Alvin Brown fundraising off of anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s murder

Former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown, a Democratic candidate in Florida’s 5th Congressional District, used the anniversary of Trayvon Martin‘s murder six years ago as part of a fundraising pitch Thursday.

Martin, who was gunned down in 2012 by George Zimmerman in Central Florida, was not mentioned in public remarks when Brown was Jacksonville Mayor.

However, Brown’s fundraising appeal in 2018 is a different matter.

“It is hard to believe, six years ago this week Trayvon was fatally shot for what can only be described as ‘looking suspicious.’ We must always take a moment to reflect and remember the loss of lives like Trayvon,” Brown asserted.

“As we have conversations and push for gun reform, it is important to remember the Trayvons. His death and all those highlighted in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement and those before them must serve a reminder that reform is needed. No one should be killed or discriminated against because of the color of their skin,” Brown added.

Brown’s mentioning of #BlackLivesMatter was also interesting, given that in the two years in which his tenure as mayor overlapped with the movement, he didn’t mention it explicitly either.

“We must reform our gun laws; we must reform how we are training our police officers; we must reform how we hold people accountable for their actions. In addition, it is time to repeal laws like Florida’s stand your ground law,” Brown wrote just above the DONATE button, completing a fundraising email that was effectively a “chaser” to the “shot” sent out earlier to media, in which he reprised attacks on incumbent Al Lawson, a supporter of “Stand Your Ground.”

“Florida’s dangerous Stand Your Ground law fosters a ‘shoot-first’ mentality and encourages Floridians to murder one another in cold blood. We ought to repeal this reckless law as it undermines public safety, protects bad actors, and perpetuates racial bias. We have a moral responsibility to do all that we can to keep our neighborhoods and children safe — not promote laws that endanger our communities further,” Brown asserted in the media release Tuesday.

Brown has run to the left of Lawson, using the incumbent’s gun positions to define himself, and voicing previously unheard positions in the process.