 |
| Today marks five years since the fatal encounter in Sanford, Florida. |
While I hate to admit that George Zimmerman get away with murder, the whole ordeal became a part of American history. The Sanford shooting became a highly polarized and racialized issue in 2012.
On this day, we have to make the fifth anniversary of the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin.
On February 26, 2012, on a rainy night, a young teenager left a local Sanford, Florida 7-Eleven to head to his home at the gated community nearby. A neighborhood watch volunteer witness the suspicious figure walking through the community. He calls 9-1-1 and relays the information to the dispatcher. The dispatcher was on the phone when the volunteer decides to follow the individual. While on the phone the dispatcher tells the volunteer to avoid following the individual. By that time, a confrontation, a gunshot and then a teenager lying in a pool of blood.
The police arrive and question the volunteer and let him go. They believed that the use of deadly force was justified through the "Stand Your Ground" law. The state hired a special prosecutor and then charged the volunteer with second degree murder. In 2013, the jury decided that the volunteer was justified in murder. It was one of the most watched courtroom trials in American history. Second to the OJ Simpson trial.
George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin became symbolic names in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Zimmerman, then a neighborhood watcher got into a confrontation with Trayvon Martin, who was walking through the gated community where his father stayed. The details of the confrontation are often disputed through the left and right's version's of the encounter.
The left believes that Trayvon Martin was targeted because he was a Black male. He was walking through a gated community and George Zimmerman took upon himself to be a police officer.
The right believes that Martin's anti-social behavior and refusal to acknowledge authority lead to his death. Martin may have thrown the first punch leaving Zimmerman no choice but to use deadly force.
Regardless of what happened, it opened up some deep wounds in the Black community. It also gave Black America a notice that "our lives are worthless" in the eyes of Republicans, conservatives, and white guilt liberals.
Trayvon Martin was labeled a thug by conservatives and White extremists because he would pose with middle fingers, smoke weed and have tattoos on his arm. They accused his family of making money off his death. They blamed Barack Obama and Al Sharpton for meddling in affairs they have no business getting in to. They were celebrating that Zimmerman was handed a "not guilty" verdict when read by the jury.
George Zimmerman was labeled a cocky asshole by the left. He would often be accused of inciting situations and threatening his ex-wife and girlfriends with gun violence. He would also post offensive images on social media. He would often get into more misfortunes. He is currently unemployed and extremely controversial if ever invited to speak at any event. He was blocked indefinitely from Twitter after he posted a photo of a nude woman who he claimed was a girlfriend. He claimed that she cheated on him with a "dirty Muslim."
The Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman controversy still linger in the public. It's still a touchy subject to focus on because White extremists are often willing to expose themselves online and public whenever this is mentioned.