It is the story that is sweeping the nation; even president Obama publicly commented on the case. It is the Trayvon Martin shooting. The nation has been captivated by the death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin and the mystery of whether he was brutally executed, or killed in self-defense by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman.
On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman 28, the neighborhood watch captain of Sanford, Florida, saw 17 year old Trayvon Martin walking around the neighborhood. Zimmerman called police and described “this guy (who) looks like he’s up to no good or he’s on drugs or something.” Zimmerman followed Trayvon through the neighborhood in his car while staying on the phone with the police dispatcher. The neighborhood had just experienced a number of break-ins in the past weeks.
Trayvon, who was going to meet his father, had just brought an iced tea and Skittles from a convenience store when Zimmerman, who was driving his truck, spotted him and began pursuit. Trayvon had called his girlfriend and told her that he was being followed by someone. His girlfriend told him to run; he initially said he wouldn’t but eventually he did. Zimmerman then got out of his truck and proceeded to follow Trayvon on foot. Zimmerman was told by the police operator that he didn’t need to follow him but he did anyway. He told the police officer to call him so they could meet up.
Details start to get very foggy here and there are two distinctly different versions of how Trayvon wound up getting shot. Trayvon’s girlfriend said she heard them start to scuffle and that Zimmerman confronted Trayvon. Zimmerman’s claim is that as he was about to get into his car Trayvon came up behind him, asked him if he “had a problem” and then punched him in the face and tackled him to the ground and started to hit his head against the ground. Zimmerman says he thought that he was going to be killed so he shot Trayvon with the handgun that he kept on him.
Eyewitness reports further the confusion. According to one eyewitness, Trayvon was at one point on top of Zimmerman. Another witness claims that Zimmerman seemed to look “messed up.” Yet another witness claims to have seen Trayvon on top of Zimmerman, but only after the gunshot when Trayvon was already dead. Another witness claims she saw a man wearing red on top of the other, yet neither Zimmerman nor Trayvon were wearing red. Clearly the eyewitnesses clarify nothing.
One of the biggest issues of the story is how the media is portraying it. News stations use pictures of Trayvon when he was younger and more innocent looking, yet Trayvon had fake gold teeth caps and tattoos. Zimmerman is portrayed from a mug shot taken of him after he had been arrested by the police. Trayvon has also been portrayed as a great student, yet he was currently suspended from school for drug possession and had been in trouble multiple times before. News stations had also withheld news that Zimmerman was known for being overly aggressive and was already fired from a job as a security officer for that reason.
A police video from when Zimmerman was taken to the police station showed that Zimmerman was not bandaged or bleeding from the attack. Closer examination of the footage showed that Zimmerman might have possibly had a scar and swelling on the back of his head. A police officer also wiped down the back of his shirt from what was reported to be grass stains from when Zimmerman was on the ground. Yet, in the video it does not look like his nose was broken.
Another issue is whether Zimmerman had racially profiled Trayvon and had killed him because he was black. NBC news had edited the Zimmerman police call to make it sound like Zimmerman immediately acknowledged the fact that Trayvon was black; yet on the actual call, Zimmerman was unsure of whether Trayvon was black at first. NBC actually fired an editor over this.
Many people have started to march in the streets for justice against Zimmerman. The marchers have been reported to wear hoodies in honor of the hoodie Trayvon wore that night. The Black Panther party has put a 10,000 dollar bounty on Zimmerman’s head. Director Spike Lee and others tweeted the alleged location of Zimmerman’s house yet it turned out the house belonged to an old couple who had to go to a hotel to escape all the protesters.
The details of what exactly happened that fateful night may always be murky, but a teenager was killed and his killer has been getting tried in the press before he gets the right to a real trial. The story has attracted so much attention that even the president has commented on it. The investigation continues.