UPDATED: After I wrote this, I read the article posted below.
Trayvon Martin shooting: New details emerge from Facebook and Twitter accounts, witness testimony
The kid wasn't perfect and he had some things in his past that weren't ideal. But, who doesn't? I still have the same issue I did before I saw a more grown up or "gangsta" picture of Trayvon. Zimmerman took the law into his own hands.
He intervened when he should have waited for the police. He should have let them handle it, plain and simple.
Zimmerman is the reason Martin is dead. He was irresponsible in how he dealt with the situation.
I just don't think you can hide behind the stand your ground law when you put someone in a corner and dare them not to react.
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His picture has been all over the news for weeks. What stands out most to me is his brilliant smile. I don't know him nor do I know his living situation. But, he looked like a sweet kid.
Travyon Martin, 17, was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, 28, on Feb 26 in the central Florida suburb of Sanford. (It is about 20 miles from Orlando.)
Zimmerman, a neighborhood crime watch captain, claimed self-defense after shooting Martin once in the chest.
Prior to the shooting, Zimmerman called the police to report a suspicious individual wearing a hoodie. Zimmerman was advised by the dispatcher not to continue his pursuit.
Zimmerman ignored the dispatcher and continued following Martin.
The teen was on the phone with his girlfriend and can be heard asking Zimmerman why he was follow him. In turn, the crime watch captain asks Martin: "What are you doing around here?"
Click here for the full article from Good Morning America (GMA).
And click here for a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article about a hoodie march in Arlington.
Details I haven't heard before emerged from the GMA article.
There is a witness who seems to back up Zimmerman's claim that Martin fought with him, according to the article:
"An eyewitness, 13-year-old Austin Brown, told police he saw a man fitting Zimmerman's description lying on the grass moaning and crying for help just seconds before he heard the gunshot that killed Martin.
The initial police report noted that Zimmerman was bleeding from the back of the head and nose, and after medical attention it was decided that he was in good enough condition to travel in a police cruiser to the Sanford, Fla., police station for questioning. He was not arrested."The article also revealed why Travyon, who was from Miami, was in Sanford. He was suspended from school after he was found in possession of an empty bag of marijuana, according to the report.
"ABC News has also learned that Martin was staying in Sanford at the time because he'd been suspended from Krop High School in Miami after being found with an empty bag of marijuana. He was staying at his father's fiance's house in Sanford."As far as I am aware, the only people who know what happened during the incident are Zimmerman and Martin. I don't believe anyone else saw the actual shooting.
But the main thing I would like to express is this: the new details, though sensational, make absolutely no difference. So what if Martin wasn't squeaky clean? He had an empty bag of pot. I don't condone drug use, especially by minors, but, does that make him a villain or an aggressor?
It is also possible that that Martin fought with Zimmerman. He may have even went for the gun. But think about it, if you were walking home from the store with a can of tea and skittles and you noticed that an older male was following you, wouldn't you be weirded out or uneasy? I know my behavior might look a little suspicious.
It is one of the basics instincts - flight or fight. So, yes, I wouldn't be surprised if Martin did fight with Zimmerman. BUT, I doubt it was as an instigator. More likely, he was fighting as a scared 17-year-old kid with a man he perceived was threatening him ...
I can only speculate because I, of course, wasn't there. But, you want to know a fact I know to be true?
Travyon would be alive if Zimmerman had listened to the dispatcher, not pursued Martin and left the policing to the police.
From what I can understand from the stand-your-ground law, if Martin was fighting with Zimmerman and did go for the gun, technically Zimmerman may have a claim of self-defense. Here is another excerpt of the article:
"The new information in the emotionally charged case could complicate pressing charges against Zimmerman, which one veteran prosecutor has already said could be difficult.
"The stand-your-ground law is one portion of justifiable use of deadly force," veteran State Attorney Angela Corey told ABC News. "And what that means is that the state must go forward and be able to prove it's case beyond a reasonable doubt… So it makes the case in general more difficult than a normal criminal case."
But here is the problem I have with it: He was the aggressor and the catalyst in this death. If you take him out of the equation there wouldn't have been an incident. Zimmerman caused Martin's death.
Where is the justice?
Where is the justice?
