My fellow citizens, we are faced with a big problem; Trayvon Martin was murdered by a man that took it upon himself to act as law, jury and judge. Trayvon Martin was accosted, accused and executed because he was racially profiled by an overzealous, self-appointed, neighborhood watch volunteer. George Zimmerman blatantly disregarded the instructions from law enforcement to not continue to follow, approach or attempt to detain young Trayvon Martin. In the event that George Zimmerman was African-American, it would have played out like this:
· Failure to obey an officer (1st Count) lead to a young man losing his life
· Assault and battery of a minor (2nd Count) by attempting to detain Trayvon without reason which lead to the brandishing of a firearm
· Carrying a handgun without a permit (3rd Count)
· Illegal discharge of a handgun (4th Count)
· Reckless endangerment (5th Count)
· Murder in the 1st degree (6th Count)- Trayvon Martin’s "girlfriend's" account of the event negates the “self-defense” claim
· Murder in the 2nd degree (7th Count)- Default charge added to black men’s “count sheet” just in case Murder in the 1st is a stretch; a back-up plan if you will
· The most important charge of all, HATE CRIME (8th Count)- the history (telephone calls to the police) of George Zimmerman shows a racially motivated bias towards black men
Right now, there are many George Zimmerman’s out there watching closely at how this unfolds. This has the potential to make, “fearing for your own life,” which of course cannot be proven or disproven cause for “justifiable homicide” by reason of self-defense. Last I checked, Skittles and Arizona Iced Tea weren’t considered life-threatening. I digress though, because this isn’t about Skittles, Iced Tea, or “hoodies.” It’s about RACE. Trayvon Martin’s murder was almost drowned-out by a twenty year-old non-issue (KONY 2012). If Trayvon wasn’t an African-American, he would have never been considered suspicious. Also, approaching someone that is “suspicious” shows BRAVERY, not fear- it also shows AGRESSION, which is usually not an adjective used to describe the self-proclaimed “victim.” Based on what I have heard of the 9-1-1 tapes (I refuse to listen to it- I don’t want to hear this young man scream for HELP!!!- essentially beg for his own life; he deserves his dignity), George Zimmerman STALKED Trayvon Martin and waited for what he considered to be the perfect opportunity, to ambush this young man and gun him down without reason.
This brings me to the Sanford Police Department. Whatever happened to “Protect & Serve?” Protecting Trayvon Martin most definitely didn’t happen- how about “Serving” Trayvon Martin by making sure that his murderer is brought to justice. Because of George Zimmerman, the world will never know who Trayvon Martin was going to become. Young Trayvon now shares a legacy with Oscar Grant and Ramarley Graham and countless others that have lost their life to law enforcement officers or people that know that it is okay to take the law into your hands as long as you aren’t BLACK!
Trayvon Martin, I mourn your loss and I send strength to your family as I sit and ponder the future person that you could have become and how that potential has been taken away because of racial profiling. It is time for us to realize that racial issues will always exist in this country. Until the law stops protecting those that perpetrate crimes against others based on race, sexual orientation, religious preference, etc. we will always reside in a country that allows the George Zimmermans of the world to feel free to allow their prejudices to continue to dictate their actions and feel justified in taking young innocent lives; while knowing that they can utilize the “Gary Zimmerman, prove I wasn’t in fear” defense.
