I want to preface this post by
saying thank you to all who provided me feedback on yesterday’s post. As
friends and as a fellow citizens, we do not need to agree on every issue. We
do, however, need to have the conversation. So, I thank those who had the conversation
with me, and appreciate (as much, if not more so) those who offered alternate
perspectives.
Also, I want to clarify regarding my
wonderful, handsome and incredibly intelligent brother: he cares very deeply
about injustices and stands up for what is right fearlessly. He was simply
expressing what so many feel, the fear that no matter what we do, nothing will
change. I believe that fear can only be combatted by raising our voices. Here’s
more of my voice:
As a kid, I grew up in Sanford,
Florida and, as a young woman, I lived in the apartment complex neighboring the
townhouses where the Trayvon Martin shooting took place. However, no matter
where it happened, I would have been just as alarmed at the idea that, in the
Unites States of America, someone can walk up to someone else, shoot and kill
him, simply claim ‘I felt threatened,’ and go home with no arrest made and no
substantial investigation pursued - let alone an armed, self-appointed
neighborhood watchman who followed and aggressively approached an unarmed,
17-year-old kid because ‘he looked suspicious’ to him. This strikes “close to
home” with me on many levels.
Feedback I’ve heard from some here
in Sanford greatly surprised me. It was this: the media has misconstrued a lot,
witnesses and Trayvon’s parents themselves have changed their stories, and
Trayvon had a very bad past and was not a little, innocent kid. Also, the
neighbor of George Zimmerman, Frank Taaffe, said in an interview to Anderson
Cooper, “If [Martin] would have just answered him, in an appropriate manner...
there wouldn’t have been any problem.”
I want to discuss each of these
points, one by one:
1. The media has misconstrued a lot - These basic, indisputable facts cannot be misconstrued:
The Body -
Martin is dead. He was alive and now he is dead.
The Confession -
Zimmerman admits he killed Martin.
The 911 Call -
Zimmerman says he is following Martin and that Martin is running from him. This
means he was not being attacked by Martin. This also means that he initiated
the altercation. This is in contrast to the Neighborhood Watch Program’s policy
that those on watch should not pursue or approach a suspicious person.
Furthermore, Zimmerman was not registered as a Neighborhood Watch Captain as he
claimed.
The Gun - Zimmerman was
carrying a gun. Zimmerman pursued Martin with that gun, and shot him. This is
in contrast to the Neighborhood Watch Program’s policy that those on watch are
not to be armed.
The Lack of Arrest and Investigation - Zimmerman was not arrested. An extensive investigation was
not pursued - Martin’s phone or phone records not even checked to take the
statement of the last person Martin spoke to (who could have provided
invaluable information because she was speaking to Martin while Zimmerman was chasing
him and questioned him). In fact, Martin was more thoroughly investigated than
Zimmerman himself - Zimmerman was not tested for alcohol or drugs while
Martin’s body was.
These facts are enough to raise alarm over the handling of
this case. Any other possible sensationalism in the media just doesn’t matter.
2. Witnesses
and parents have changed their stories -
The Witnesses -
Witnesses, Mary Cutcher and Selma Mora Lamilla (the first ones at the scene who
saw Zimmerman “straddling” Martin’s body, hands on his back, Martin face down),
have gone to the media claiming that their statements were not correctly
recorded by the officers at the scene.
They say they called the Sanford Police Department after
seeing the reports, wanting them to be corrected, and received no phone call
back. The police department is now asking them to retract their reported
statements. They wanted to do just that and did not get a phone call back until
they went to the media.
They also claim that at the time of the incident, an officer
on the scene “corrected” them when they said they believed the screams and
moaning were Martin’s, telling them they were Zimmerman’s. It is also
alleged that officers stated Zimmmerman had a “squeaky clean record” and was
going to school to be a police officer, which may explain the officers’
mindsets when reporting witnesses’ statements.
These claims need to be investigated along with the rest of
the alleged statements, actions or inactions of the Sanford Police Department.
The Parents - Martin’s
parents weren’t with him at the time of the incident, his mother 250 plus miles
away. What pertinent story could they possibly have changed?
Possible conflicting stories from witnesses at the scene
(claimed to be due to errors or omissions in the police reports), need to be
further investigated, not completely discounted. Any possibly conflicting
stories of the victim’s family cannot be pertinent to the moment and manner of
his death. In relation to the culpability of Zimmerman in Martin’s death, this just doesn’t matter.
3. Trayvon
had a very bad past and was not a little, innocent kid –
Bad Past and Innocence
- In the United States of America, it does not matter what the victim’s past
is; a homicide does not become justifiable because the victim had a record.
This thought also makes me wonder, what sort of bad past
could a 17-year-old kid possibly have had that would have justified his
killing, or be pertinent to the moment that Zimmerman pulled the trigger. Ironically,
the only “past” or record I’ve come across in my research is that of
Zimmerman’s (domestic violence allegations from his wife, and an arrest for
battering a police officer and resisting arrest).
Age - In the
United States of America, it does not matter what age the victim is; a homicide
does not become justifiable (or any less horrible) because the victim has
passed puberty.
I will go out on a limb to say this, as a mother: Yes,
Trayvon Martin was a little kid. He was 17 years old, with his whole future in
front of him. When my boys are 17 years old, they will still just be innocent,
little kids. He should be considering which colleges he wants to attend next
fall. Instead, his parents were considering which coffin to put his body in.
The past, innocence or age of a victim in a shooting just doesn’t matter.
4. Martin
should have answered Zimmerman in the appropriate manner -
Martin - In the
Unites States of America, you are not required to answer anyone who approaches
and questions you. Other than identifying yourself, you do not even have to
answer a police officer’s questions. (Everyone knows their “right to remain
silent.”)
Martin held absolutely no responsibility to answer Zimmerman
when he aggressively questioned him for his name and reason for being there. It
is preposterous and highly incendiary to assert that Martin acted
inappropriately by not answering Zimmerman and is therefore responsible for his
own death in any way.
Zimmerman -
In the United States of America, you do not have the right to approach someone
and demand they identify themselves or answer any other questions under threat
of altercation. It’s quite frankly, none of your business. Your business is
only to report to the authorities anything you feel is suspicious. This is not
the wild west. Zimmerman, you are not John Wayne.
Whether Martin answered Zimmerman in the “appropriate manner”
or answered him at all, it just doesn’t
matter.
All of these points, whether true or
not - that the media is sensationalizing the story, that the witnesses and
Trayvon’s parents have contradicted themselves, and that Trayvon was not an innocent,
little kid, had a questionable past of his own, and could have avoided
confrontation by answering Zimmerman - just
don’t matter.
This
is what matters: Zimmerman followed and confronted
Martin. Zimmerman shot Martin. Zimmerman should therefore be arrested and
charged with that homicide, so that a judge and jury has the opportunity to
decide his innocence or guilt, whether or not the homicide was justifiable.
That is how it works in the Unites States of America. Period.
Regarding Florida’s Stand Your
Ground law, State Representative and co-sponsor of the bill, Dennis Baxley,
said, “Clearly the intent of the law is to defend people in their homes and
their cars where they have the right to be [safe] from attack. There is nothing
in the statute to protect somebody who is pursuing and confronting other
people.”
On the contrary, if any one was
attacking, it was George Zimmerman. He admittedly chased Trayvon Martin; and he
admittedly instigated the altercation. Therefore, if anyone had the right to
protect himself, it was Trayvon Martin. The idea that Zimmerman can legally
pull out a deadly weapon and take this man’s young life, by simply claiming
that he was defending himself, is outrageous.
I believe a grand jury or the new
District Attorney assigned to this case must come to the conclusion that
Zimmerman is not protected from prosecution under the Stand Your Ground law.
Furthermore, an initial arrest
should have been made. The fact that Zimmerman and this homicide was not
properly investigated, and given the Sanford Police Department’s recent history
of overlooking other similar incidents, calls for full investigation of the
police department itself.
If Zimmerman is not brought before a
judge and jury in the death of Trayvon Martin, a hugely dangerous precedent
will be set. This will give anyone the license to pursue, provoke and shoot
anyone else on any neighborhood street, claim that they felt threatened at some
point, and avoid prosecution. No one will be safe. No one’s children will be
safe.
The President said today regarding this matter, “When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids.” We all should.
