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Trayvon Martin shooting protest 2012 Shankbone

Trayvon Martin shooting protest 2012 Shankbone (Photo credit: david_shankbone)

The George Zimmerman Murder Trial

The George Zimmerman trial week 2 is coming to a close tomorrow, Friday July 3, 2013. Zimmerman a 29 year old Florida man shot and killed Trayvon Martin a 17 year old African American male on the evening of February 26, 2012. Police on the scene found the body of the dead teenager Trayvon Martin unarmed. Martin who lived in Miami with his mother and was visiting his father who lived with his girlfriend in a gated neighborhood in Sanford, Florida was confronted, shot, and killed near his home by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was not charged by Sanford Police. However, the case drew national outcry and sparked hot debate over racial tensions, vigilantism, police practices, and gun laws. Eventually, Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder his trial will resume tomorrow. Prosecutors are winding down their case after presenting evidence and testimony to refute Zimmerman’s claim he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot 17-year old Trayvon Martin.                                                                                                                                                                    

Before they do, one or both of Martin’s parents may be called to testify  about whose voice is on 911 recordings of a fight between Zimmerman and Martin that preceded the shooting.

George Zimmerman Trial - Stanford, FL

Pool Photo/County Sheriff

In several interviews with police following the fatal shooting, Zimmerman claimed that it was Trayvon who attacked him, and that fearing for his life, he screamed and then shot the teenager. Zimmerman has maintained the same story since the night of the shooting. However, we offer the following:

VIEWS & ANALYSIS  

No matter how you look at this, it was a great tragedy. One cannot help but to feel a great deal of sorrow for the parents of Trayvon Martin. A 17 year old armed with skittles and ice tea lost his life in a confrontation that was completely avoidable, and the burden to avoid this was on the older man, George Zimmerman, who initiated the fatal encounter in the first place. Racism is still alive and well in America. The trouble is, it has gone undercover, swept under the rug, where it has become much more dangerous, and sometimes deadly as in this case. This is not about all White America being racist. It is a story of the clash of two worlds, which by now should have been able to live together in greater peace and harmony. And what is truly unfortunately is that with a little bit of good will, such societal peace and harmony can be achieved. The worst part of this is, given the same set of circumstances and preconceptions and  prejudice, is that this could happen to anyone; and it will happen again just as things of this nature have happened before: black males getting shot for taking keys out of their pockets or for putting their hands in their pockets. 

On that rainy winter night of February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman assigned 400 years of scapegoating, stigmatizing, demonizing, and degradation to young Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was armed and dangerous. He was out for trouble: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good,” he told the dispatcher; “he looks like he’s on drug or something,” he said. “They always get away.” He then gave chase after Trayvon. As has been presented in Court, the evidence clearly shows that Trayvon was afraid that night. He did not know who Zimmerman was or why he was following him. Zimmerman on the other hand was in control of the situation the entire time. He called the Police and knew that the Police was on their way. They told him that. The Police did not need Zimmerman to go look for a street address, and Zimmerman knew this. The Police had his phone number, and as they approached the area they would have contacted him in order to find his location. That is what Police do. Zimmerman was safe in his car. He had a firearm on him, and from all indications, Trayvon was trying to get away from him. Rachel Jeantile, Trayvon’s friend, who was on the phone with him testified in Court that Trayvon told her “I lost him.” Clearly, Trayvon Martin was relieved when he thought he had lost Zimmerman. Therefore, it must be Zimmerman that sought out and caught up with Trayvon.  

Further analysis shows that Zimmerman’s story is fabricated. He concocted that story while waiting for the police to arrive after killing Trayvon. He had been schooled in criminal justice. He was friendly with the police department. He fully expected to get away with this murder. The most outrageous part of this man’s story is how Trayvon somehow became the incredible hawk, some sort of a superman. Supposedly, according to Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin was throwing punches like crazy, “bashing” Zimmerman’s head into the pavement, and covering his mouth and nose with both his hands. And Trayvon was doing all of that while “straddling” on top of Zimmerman. The question is, What happened to Zimmerman’s hands? Why could he not use his hands to defend himself? Why was a man armed with a semi-automatic weapon screaming for help like child? Those screams did not come from someone who was being beaten. Those were the screams of somebody who knew he was about to die and was yelling to save his life. And most of all, if everything happened the way Zimmerman described it, why did Zimmerman not pull his gun and hold it to Trayvon until the Police got there, even if he had to threaten to pull the trigger, if he was not so indifferent to this kid’s life? He did not do that because in his mind, as shown in his various statements to police referring to Trayvon Martin as a suspect, he thought of Trayvon as someone whose life is not so precious after all. 

In addition, From the beginning of this encounter until the end, Zimmerman made absolutely no effort to communicate with Trayvon in any manner that could have brought some understanding to him that Trayvon was not a threat. Had he simply identified himself and expressed concerns that he did not know Trayvon and was wondering what he was doing in the neighborhood, he would have found out that indeed Trayvon belonged there as much as he did. 

Many in the media have already thrown in the towel about the prosecution case. It is true that the prosecutors in this case could have done a much better job for their victim and avoid many of the defense traps that they fell into. However, it is the jury that everyone should be worried about. It does not take a rocket scientist to see through this case. Zimmerman shows himself to be someone who can lie with a straight face and believe in his own lies to the point that he can repeat it over and over again without flinching. But Just as there would not have been any killing on that February nights had Trayvon Martin been White, there will not be a conviction if those jurors’ minds are so poisoned with prejudice that they could actually conclude that a heavier and older man with a gun, a neighborhood watchman with a flashlight and a vehicle, a martial art student with a background in criminal justice was totally paralyzed and unable to use his words or any of his two hands during a purported struggle, except to pull the trigger in his gun and snuffed the life out of a teenager. And he said in an interview with Shawn Hannity of Fox News that if he had to do it all over, he would not change a thing. He has been sitting in Court showing absolutely no remorse or concerns, just waiting for his lawyers to get him off. Every human being of good will, Black or White, should be outraged by the circumstances of this case. It is when we allow our consciences to be shocked by the utterly shocking that we protect and retain our humanity, which  we heavily depend on for inspiration to do the hard work of making this world a better place for people like Trayvon Martin, as well as for those who will come after us. That is the meaning of life.

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