Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American teenager, was shot and killed in a gated community in Florida late last month by a white neighborhood watch captain, according to police. But the watch captain, George Zimmerman — a 26-year-old college student who has admitted to police that he shot the young man — still walks free. And Martin's family is pleading for answers and demanding justice.To which a commenter appropriately replied:
At this point there are more questions than answers in the young man's death, but this much is known: Martin was packing little more than a bag of candy and a canned iced tea on the night he was killed.
"He had a gun, and Trayvon had Skittles," Benjamin Crump, a family attorney, told The Huffington Post this afternoon.
Martin, 17, a high school junior who lived with his mother in Miami, was visiting his father and stepmother at their home in Sanford, a suburb of Orlando, on the weekend of Feb. 26. During halftime of the NBA All-Star Game, Martin's family said he walked to a nearby convenience store to get some candy for his younger brother. On his way back home, according to reports, he caught the attention of George Zimmerman, a 26-year-old college student and self-appointed captain of The Retreat at Twin Lakes neighborhood watch.
Zimmerman, armed with a 9mm handgun, trailed the boy in his car. At some point, Zimmerman called 911, telling the operator there was a "suspicious person in the area," according to a police report acquired by HuffPost.
Not long after the call, some sort of altercation ensued between Zimmerman and Martin. Then neighbors said they heard gunfire.
The Sanford Police arrived and found Martin lying face down on a patch of grass about 70 feet from his family's home, a pack of candy in one pocket and an iced tea in the other. (More)
I WOULD TAKE CARE OF THIS MYSELF. This man had no business targeting, getting into an altercation with, and then shooting to someone to death just because he thinks it is his right as a white citizen.Couldn't have said it better my damn self. May the gods take care of this boy's family. His mother must be a total wreck right now.
The police told him not to engage, but he smelt some n-word blood from the long lineage of his American forebears that told him it was his right as a mainstream American to bag his prize.
Recommended
Skittles, the new weapon of choice among young black males, by Field Negro
Prosecute the murderer of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, at Change.org
George Zimmerman Neighbors Complained about Aggressive Tactics Before Trayvon Martin Killing
Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct
Witness: Sanford police "Blew us off" in teen slaying
Trayvon Martin Case Salts Old Wounds And Racial Tension
This is breaking my heart. Trayvon died with a can of ice-tea and a pack of skittles on him? This piece of shit was in his car following Trayvon.
ReplyDeleteThis is really hitting me hard.The police told him to stop following this baby. He killed him any way. He claimed he felt threatened by Trayvon and "defended" himself. All Trayvon is guilty of is walking while BLACK.
I feel like torching that racist piece of shit's house.
Piece of shit indeed. This John Mehserle wannabe needs to rot in prison for eternity.
DeleteThe thing that sends chills down my spine is that Trayvon fits the exact description of my younger brother. Blacks aren't safe. Our lives aren't valued. I feel sick to my stomach.
DeleteI ache for his parents. They have to live in the same community with this drug from the muck asshole who put their child in the ground. I might have run him down with my car the next time I saw him.
DeleteThat boy should go to prison for first degree murder. America police courts are retarted. In Haiti we kill the sucker.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteMy family wouldn't stand for it. It would be safer for him to be in a prison than for him to face one of my enraged family members. The fact that he walks free and unharmed in a testament to the innate GOODNESS of my people who have been in the belly of the beast for over 400 years. This makes my blood boil and it makes me wish someone who go vigilante on his flat ass. Ughh! I am SO angry!
ReplyDeleteThis is some shit. Another brotha lost because of a fucked up cop who will likely won't receive a harsh punishment or won't receive any punishment at all.
ReplyDeleteKill a cop, you'll either get life (in prison) or death (in the streets or in prison).
Kill a brotha, you'll get a light punishment, no punishment, or a commendation.
Zimmerman's not a cop. He's just a trigger-happy civilian who was told by the cops NOT TO PURSE Martin, but did anyway just for the fun of it.
DeleteI agree. I often thought about problems like this and how much Blacks and other POC are put on a figurative scale because of it .Whenever I go out of that do I pray for myself,my family, especially, my brothers and others hoping that there are trigger happy racists like Zimmerman ready to take you down. You just never know when you will be victimized by people like him. It's sad to say that I'm less scared of actual criminals than the following people you have mentioned. At least you know what they are up to and will eventually go to jail for their crime( Zimmerman should also be classified as one)
DeleteI'm too pissed to form a coherent sentence, so this will have to do:
ReplyDeletehttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/leohimesan/Animated%20Gifs%20Folder/Anger%20Levels%20Rising%20Gifs/gad_frigging_dyammit.gif
Amadou Diallo all over again! >=(
That's fucking horrible, yet again we're met with the fact that really anyone who isn't WHITE isn't safe. I mean this boy was not doing a damn thing wrong and got shot for simply being black.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hate crime and should be treated as so. That trigger happy piece of shit needs to do time. If not I hope he's head hunted and killed Zimmerman you are one hell of a piece of shit. He needs to rot in a hole for what he's done. He's caused so much pain and agony and yet he's walking away free as if he didn't just commit murder. This infuriates me to no end.
People need to stop acting like black males aren't targeted unfairly for violence and "discipline." White men (and women) and can act ridiculous and without impunity. Excessive force and murder are not seen as the first and only way to deal with BELLIGERENT white people. (And yes, I'm aware this kid was doing nothing but walking home, but wanted to point out that an out of control white person is seen as harmless and a Black person is seen as threatening just for BREATHING).
ReplyDeleteA Black man (or in this case CHILD) is treated as being dangerous and suspicious for being black. This CIVILIAN cracker killed a child because he was black. Full stop. And yet we see time and again that when this happens, cops totally get off for doing it, and I think civilians are given a pass for killing "naturally scary and intimidating" black men and kids.
But yeah, this isn't Amadou Diallo b/c the guy in question was a private citizen who had no right at all to use violence to stop or detain anyone. The cops told him to fall back. This was a vigilante who decided to do some ethnic cleansing of his neighborhood. So I hope they don't manage to act like a black child with a pocketful of Skittles is so scary that he gets off for this. But I'm not hopeful. White people get away with murder so much by invoking the image of black men and children as scary black beasts.
And you know that we could NEVER get away with this kind of behavior (not that any of us would aspire to it). You can't hop out of your car, try to boss someone around, and then shoot them for rightfully ignoring you (if that was the case...I think this guy stopped intending to shoot, but yeah, if I was a 17 year old kid and some stranger stopped his car I'd keep moving too, b/c you know pedophile, kidnapper, etc).
White people get to act so crazy b/c no one ever beats their heads in for it. I think we have all experienced their wilding out in high school and college especially. They destroy things, get drunk or high in public, mock law enforcement, and do all kinds of things that would result in cops slaughtering black people for.
Yea, I know the shooter wasn't a cop. I mentioned Amadou Diallo because his 'deadly weapon' was a wallet, which apparently warranted him being shot over forty times. Who knew a money-holding object could be so dangerous?
DeleteMeanwhile, Trayvon had a pocketful of skittles and iced tea while walking, yet the guy in the car with the gun felt threatened? Bish, please! Mr. Bad-Ass Neighbourhood Watch was going to show this little so-and-so who was the Boss Man around these parts!
the white students at my college, trashed the break rooms, rioted, set cars on fire and threw bottles at police officers.
DeleteIt's funny, yeah he's not a cop, but the cops sure are defending him like one. Reading articles on this at first I thought the police chief was his lawyer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction. I dunno how I got 'cop' out of this.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that a boy cannot get candy from the store without it costing him his life. To racists like Zimmerman ALL Black people are suspicious.
ReplyDeleteOh, just to show how differently blacks and whites are treated by police, this murderer was himself charged with resisting arrest and threatening law enforcement in the past.
ReplyDeleteAnd no surprise, since he is white, that did not end with him being dead, and the charges were dropped. How do they continue to act like there isn't a HUGE difference in how they get treated even when they are engaging in criminal behavior?
And what's fucked up about this is that this could happen to any black person in America. And what's really fucked up is that we wouldn't get justice. The fact that this murderer is still free and out and about shows you how "post-racial" we really are.
ReplyDeleteNeo this Post-Racial
DeleteBy this I mean
Post-Racial=Some Frak up times
http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-murderer-of-17-year-old-trayvon-martin
ReplyDeleteThis makes me so. fucking. angry. I just want to take my little brother and run away from this Amerikkka. I just know that any child of mine that I have (especially sons) are already marked in the cross hairs of the racist gaze.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, there is *nothing* that can console this family right now, knowing the way this baby was slaughtered for nothing but Zimmerman's trophy.
WOW ...in a gated community!
ReplyDeleteThe reason people pay to "live behind a gate" is to avoid violence and unpredictably in the first place.
May this kid rest in Peace.
"Neighborhood watch" or Vigilantes ? "26 yr old college kid" or "ex-convict" ?
Details coming out soon.....
I'm so beyond upset I can't really generate a coherent response...other than I hope somebody kills that motherfucker good and slow.
ReplyDeleteNothing's going to happen to that man.
You know...all these references to the gated community, Zimmerman's education, and previously dropped records SCREAMS "rich and powerful" relative.
ReplyDeleteTell me about it! Someone up top is going all out to shield him. Even his whiteness shouldn't have granted him THIS much protection. Unreleased 911 tapes? Going home after shooting someone and merely giving a statement? Police acting all skittish when questioned?
DeleteNah, son. Zimmerman is a lot more than an 'ordinary' citizen in this tale.
I always ask myself, "Could a high-school dropout from Wayne County, WV get away with this type of ish?" If my answer's no, then that's when I know class privilege is at play.
DeleteThis is heartbreaking, that poor baby. I've already seen this racism being directed towards my 8 year old nephew. Already he is being treated like a criminal.
ReplyDeleteI admit that I am prejudiced against white people and very suspicious of any white person in a position of authority. This prejudice is something I am trying to overcome. I have felt sick and nervous all day today in anticipation of the police press conference for this case. Well now they say they can't prove it wasn't self-defense so there will be no arrest. They're closing the case and maybe the prosecutor will choose to pursue it but the police are done. And honestly I can't take this. There is no evidence at all that young Trayvon ever attacked this man. Everything shows that Zimmerman was the aggressor the whole time. So what I see is this white guy stalked a kid from his car, got out of the car after being told not to because "they always get away", and a couple minutes later he shot this boy. And he just walks away. He can just claim self-defense. Couldn't any murderer?? The family's lawyer says there is a presumption that Trayvon was the aggressor when there is absolutely nothing to show that. Nothing.
ReplyDeleteEXCEPT HIS SKIN AND WE ALL KNOW THIS. Brown skin is automatically dangerous.
And I just can't, this is making me sick.
Zimmerman needs to either go the prison for forever or catch a stray one in the street while he's buying a pack of Skittles.
ReplyDeleteBut just walking free is unacceptable. This isn't the Old West and it ain't 1932. We are not target practice for white people and the police better do something before that community takes matters into its own hands.
I hope they wreck that piece of shit with civil law suits. Certain people don't care about anything until you start hitting them in their pockets. I wonder if the family will pursue this to be taken on by a higher agency. This is an absolute OUTRAGE. I hope this miserable jackal is stalked. I hope some Final Destination type shit happens to him. I mean SERIOUSLY???!! I am so angry, I can't even type anymore. I've been following this story with baited breath.
ReplyDeleteThey're not going to do anything and the community will have to, on principle. They can't accept this; can't take this boy's death lying down. Zimmerman got away with cold-blooded murder and they know it. Were it the other way around, we'd be under the fucking prison awaiting charges of murder one. Because that man intended to shoot that kid; why else would he continue to follow him even after being told not to. And like you said, this reeks of class privilege. I can't bear to keep up with the reports because I get so mad.
ReplyDeleteI hope the community takes care of this themselves. I hope somebody gets Zimmerman. I hope he catches a lead pipe to the skull. I hope he gets cornered and assaulted to within an inch of his life...and I don't give two shits how that sounds. He murdered an innocent boy and got away with it. Who's to say he won't do that shit again? I bet he's sitting at home, talking trash about the Negro he killed while poor Trayvon is on a cooling board with his family in anguish.
A stray one simply isn't good enough. Something has to be done about this.
I totally agree. Let's be real. This was a modern-day lynching.
DeleteAnd the cover-up continues....
ReplyDeleteGeorge Zimmerman Neighbors Complained about Aggressive Tactics Before Trayvon Martin Killing
I wonder who this piece of crap is related to. How is it that he keeps getting away with dirt? Aside from the fact that he has the complexion for protection.
DeleteI believe I read elsewhere that Zimmerman is a criminal justice student. Criminal justice. How's that for some irony?
DeleteThey can try debate if the 'ish was self-defense all they want, but the reality is if Zimmerman had stayed his ass in his car he wouldn't have gotten into any conflict with the child in the first place. Your car is always safer.
ReplyDeleteOrlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct:
ReplyDelete"...after the shooting, a source inside the police department told ABC News that a narcotics detective and not a homicide detective first approached Zimmerman. The detective pepppered Zimmerman with questions, the source said, rather than allow Zimmerman to tell his story. Questions can lead a witness, the source said.
Another officer corrected a witness after she told him that she heard the teen cry for help.
The officer told the witness, a long-time teacher, it was Zimmerman who cried for help, said the witness. ABC News has spoken to the teacher and she confirmed that the officer corrected her when she said she heard the teenager shout for help.
The Sanford Police Department refused to release 911 calls by witnesses and neighbors.
Several of the calls, ABC News has learned, contain the sound of the single gunshot.
Lee publically admitted that officers accepted Zimmerman's word at the scene that he had no police record...."
Over 154,000 signatures out of 200,000 on Change.org.
ReplyDeleteWell more and more is coming out and hopefully there will be pressure on the district attorney.
ReplyDeleteAnother witness comes forward:
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/witness-sanford-police-blew-us-teen-slaying/nLSqk/
I think there are two witnesses now (the long-time teacher and Mary Cutcher) who say it was Trayvon who was calling for help, not Zimmerman. There are also two witnesses (Mary Cutcher and a 13 year old boy) who say Trayvon and Zimmerman were separated and no longer fighting before the murder. Six witnesses total and three of them are now publicly disputing the police accounts.
I also didn't know that Trayvon was chased through the alleys trying to get to his home. Chased, crying for help, captured by this psycho and murdered in cold blood.
I also didn't know that Trayvon was chased through the alleys trying to get to his home. Chased, crying for help, captured by this psycho and murdered in cold blood.
DeleteZimmerman better pay, one way or another.
Like Ankh and I asked before, who the hell is pulling the strings to protect Zimmerman's ass so damn much that police are 'correcting' witnesses on his behalf?
DeleteAnd 'Trayvon running for his life' sounds nothing like 'Zimmerman shot in self defense'. I can see why they hoped this hot mess would blow over quickly.
Did you know? Apparently, lynching's still legal in Sandford, Florida.
ReplyDeleteTrayvon Martin Case Salts Old Wounds And Racial Tension
As far as I know there has never been anti-lynching legislation anywhere in the US. So that isn't surprising.
DeleteThanks for posting this link. It helps me to get a better understanding of what is going on with that police department. It's obvious to me that the police arriving on the scene thought they were dealing with some black drug dealer who'd provoked a confrontation. Hence the narcotics officer.
DeleteThe full 16 minute interview with the witness Mary Cutcher is worth watching. Trayvon was killed in her backyard. She is certain she heard the sound of a boy whimpering and then being shot. She is certain that they were not fighting in any way, that Trayvon had run into her yard away from the fight. She thinks Trayvon kicked Zimmerman's ass in the fight Zimmerman started and I agree. He killed that boy in vengeance.
Here is a link to that (sorry I'm having some trouble with html):
http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/interview-with-witness-of-sanford-teen-shooting/vGYPW/
She is very poised and just believable. I like that she doesn't really try to speculate on things she's not sure about. I get the sense that she really cared about this child being murdered in her yard. I must say it matters to me right now to see this white woman who clearly cares about this person, this boy who was murdered. That his brown flesh doesn't make him worthless to all of the white people in the community. This woman kept calling the police over and over trying to get them to do something about this murderer who killed a boy.
Another link here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/15/2696446/trayvon-martin-case.html
ReplyDeleteAnother witness disputing the police. More nonsense from the police chief who is now openly calling the witnesses liars. He's accusing them of changing their stories. But that's not what touched me about this article because screw him. What touched me is the 13 year old boy who heard Trayvon screaming and calling for help. This one is a little black boy himself, and now he's angry and scared to walk in his own neighborhood. He also feels guilty because he didn't do more to help Trayvon that night. My heart breaks for these children.
And now it's time for "My Son is Not a Racist!", and Other Tales of F*ckery: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57398745-504083/treyvon-martin-case-george-zimmermans-father-tells-a-newspaper-his-son-is-not-a-racist/
ReplyDeleteLast comment as I don't want to spam your comments but this made me yell:
ReplyDeletePolice Chief Bill Lee: "Our investigation is color blind and based on the facts and circumstances, not color. I know I can say that until I am blue in the face, but as a white man in a uniform I know it doesn't mean anything to anybody"
Nothing to say to that.
So you caught that too?
DeleteBill Lee, you are full of corn-filled shit and I hope you choke on it.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course old Georgie Sr. is going to shout from the rooftops that his murdering fuck of a son isn't racist. Y'all know better than that. The fact that he hunted (yes, I said it) and killed a black boy does not make him racist one bit.
I know I can say that until I am blue in the face, but as a white man in a uniform I know it doesn't mean anything to anybody"
"Nothing to say to that."
Co-sign.
***blog moderation***
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, leave a name please.