After having her angry remarks on a controversial stand-your-ground bill viewed more than 10 million times on the Internet in the past week, state Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, addressed her viral fame from the floor of the Senate on Monday. The longtime legislator told her fellow senators that she was proud that her point of view had spread so far.
“I don’t apologize for my expression, and my passion, and my emotion,” Flowers said.
Flowers’ temper flared last week as she spoke in a committee meeting against Senate Bill 484 by Sen. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, a proposal that would eliminate a “duty to retreat” from Arkansas’ self-defense law. Similar laws are nearly ubiquitous in the South and have been enacted in 25 states. SB484 failed to get out of committee last week. Video from the meeting — focusing on Flowers’ outburst — showed up on social media and on news shows.