By Amy Goodman
On the rainy night of Sunday, Feb. 26, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin
walked to a convenience store in Sanford, Fla. On his way home, with
his Skittles and iced tea, the African-American teenager was shot and
killed. The gunman, George Zimmerman, didn't run. He claimed that he
killed the young man in self-defense. The Sanford police agreed and
let him go. Since then, witnesses have come forward, 911 emergency
calls have been released, and outrage over the killing has gone
global.
Trayvon Martin lived in Miami. He was visiting his father in Sanford,
near Orlando, staying in the gated community known as The Retreat at
Twin Lakes, where Zimmerman volunteered with the Neighborhood Watch
program. The Miami Herald reported that Zimmerman was a "habitual
caller" to the police, making 46 calls since January 2011. He was out
on his rounds as a self-appointed watchman, packing his concealed 9 mm
pistol, when he called 911: "We've had some break-ins in my
neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy ... this guy looks
like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something."
Later in the call, Zimmerman exclaims, "OK. These a—holes always get
away. ... [Expletive], he's running."
Sounds of Zimmerman moving follow, along with a controversial
utterance from Zimmerman, under his breath, considered by many to be
"[Expletive] coons." The sound of his running prompted the 911
operator to ask, "Are you following him?" Zimmerman replied, "Yeah,"
to which the dispatcher said, "OK, we don't need you to do that."
One of the attorneys representing the Martin family, Jasmine Rand,
told me: "The term 'coon' on the audiotape ... is a very obvious
racial slur against African-Americans. We also heard the neighbors
come forward and say, 'Yeah, in this particular neighborhood, we look
for young black males to be committing criminal activity.' And that's
exactly what George Zimmerman did that night. He found a young black
male that he did not recognize, assumed that he did not belong there,
and he targeted him."
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Another 911 call that has been released is from a woman who hears
someone crying for help, then a gunshot.
Eyewitnesses Mary Cutcher and Selma Mora Lamilla both heard the cries,
which police say could have been from Zimmerman, thus supporting his
claim, even though he had a gun and outweighed Trayvon Martin by 80
pounds.
Cutcher said at a press conference: "I feel it was not self-defense,
because I heard the crying. And if it was Zimmerman that was crying,
Zimmerman would have continued crying after the shot went off. The
only thing I saw that night—I heard the crying. We were in the
kitchen. I heard the crying. It was a little boy. As soon as the gun
went off, the crying stopped. Therefore, it tells me it was not
Zimmerman crying."
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee has defended his department's decision
not to arrest Zimmerman. They bagged Martin's body and took it away,
labeling him a "John Doe," even though they had his cellphone, which
anyone, let alone law enforcement with a shooting victim, could have
used to easily identify a person. They tested Martin's corpse for
drugs and alcohol. Zimmerman was not tested. Neighbors say that
Zimmerman loaded things into a U-Haul truck and left the area.
So, while the police and State Attorney Norm Wolfinger have defended
their inaction, a democratic demand for justice has ricocheted around
the country, prompting a U.S. Justice Department investigation and
leading Wolfinger to promise to convene a grand jury. The Rev. Glenn
Dames, pastor of St. James AME Church in nearby Titusville, has called
Martin's death "a modern-day lynching." His demand for the immediate
arrest of Zimmerman was echoed by the organizers of the "Million
Hoodie March" in New York City, named after the often racially
stereotyped sweatshirt Martin was wearing in the rain when he was
shot.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has
called for the removal of Sanford Police Chief Lee. NAACP President
Ben Jealous, recounting a mass meeting in a Sanford-area church
Tuesday night, quoted a local resident who stood up and said, "'If you
kill a dog in this town, you'd be in jail the next day.' Trayvon
Martin was killed four weeks ago, and his killer is still walking the
streets."
With his gun.
More:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/walking_while_black_the_killing_of_trayvon_martin_20120322/
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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