Thoughts on Trayvon Martin's murder

It is always horrible to see how we as a people can act towards ourselves, whether it is through bullying, torture, or outright murder. Many of these can be placed on stereotypes and misguided notions about people, who use these notions to support their actions and reasons for what they do. Sometimes, it is just because of people who act completely irrational, whose motives are aggression and making a point. Such as the case with the recent tragedy of Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old teenager who was shot by an aggressive and irrationally thinking man, George Zimmerman. 

     

Trayvon Martin

  On February 26 around 7 pm in Sanford, Florida, Zimmerman contacted police about suspicious activity from Martin, who was walking home after buying candy and a drink from a grocery store. Zimmerman had been following Martin for a period of time in his truck, who he believed to be up to no good, as he was walking slowly and looking at houses. In reality, Martin was talking to a girl on his cell phone, who he had affection for, and talked to for about 400 minutes throughout that day. In their conversation, Martin noted to her that he felt he was being followed, and began to walk faster. Zimmerman followed suit, telling the 911 dispatcher that he was following Martin, which the dispatcher told him to stop doing saying, “We don’t need you to do that”. Zimmerman continued anyway, and eventually got out of his car and confronted Martin with a 9mm gun, which made Martin begin to scream for help, yelling “No! No!”.  Martin was then shot, and 911 calls came flooding in.

George Zimmerman

If this great injustice to Martin isn’t bad enough, it gets worse. Zimmerman was not charged with any crime, as he stated he acted in “self-defense”, and wasn’t even tested for drugs, a common police routine.  The case is now under investigation by federal authorities, including the FBI, and at a recent meeting, the Sanford City Commission voted that they had no confidence in the chief police officer’s investigation in the case.

So apparently, if you can back yourself up with misleading facts, you can get away with murder. A murder done with prejudiced beliefs and intentions. I hope for the best for Martin’s family, and that they can make it through this unbelievably tough time. As for Zimmerman, I think he won’t be free for long. With the FBI taking another look at the case, hopefully justice will come through.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/trayvon-martin-final-moments_n_1366697.html

 http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/22/10808864-police-chief-steps-down-temporarily-over-handling-of-trayvon-martin-case