15 March 2012

Lets get justice for Trayvon Martin

Unarmed Black Teen Gunned Down By Neighborhood Watch Leader After Being Deemed Suspicious


Trayvon “Trey” Martin, 17, of Miami was visiting his father living in a gated community in Sanford, Florida. He had just left a local 7-11 after buying a snack and was on his way home around 7:00 PM on February 26. George Zimmerman, a 26-year-old member of the local neighborhood watch, saw Martin and called police to report a suspicious man in the community. He tailed Martin in his car. He had a loaded pistol on him. The police told Zimmerman they would handle it.

For some reason, Zimmerman didn’t obey. Minutes later, a number of local residents called police to report a fight. A gunshot was heard. Martin died 70 yards from the house he was staying in. Zimmerman was arrested and then released. He was carrying the pistol legally and has claimed that he was acting in self-defense.
Said Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. in an interview with the Huffington Post, “For some reason he (Zimmerman) felt that Trayvon, the way that he was walking or appeared seemed suspicious to him.”
Ah, yes. The way he was walking and his appearance were deemed “suspicious.” Oh, did I forget to mention that Martin is black? And that the gated community, called Retreat at Twin Lakes, is predominantly white?
Martin’s parents are demanding the police make an arrest and release the 911 call. They are expected to file a suit in state court on Friday.
“Zimmerman, an adult, had a gun. Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old, had Skittles. No way you can say self-defense,” said the family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump.
Zimmerman was a twenty six year old man in a car following a seventeen year old kid at night. He has all the power in this situation. He is older, he is more familiar with the area, he is armed, and he is inside a car. The only way an altercation occurs is if he gets out of his car. If it’s night and I’m walking alone and a car begins to follow me, I am going to be terrified of that car and it’s driver. I can completely understand a young kid reacting aggressively in that situation because that’s a terrifying situation to find yourself in. The only person who should be held responsible for any alteracation that occured is the adult who thought it appropriate to follow a young kid around in the dark after the police dispatch explicitly told him not to do so and then NOT GOT OUT OF HIS CAR.

If you come across a petition to seek justice for his death, Please sign it! 


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