George Zimmerman's Revolution: The Spread Of Social Media

Nikita Carney’s “All Lives Matter, but so Does Race: Black Lives Matter and the Evolving Role of Social Media” assesses the role of social media as a public sphere, capable of influencing public discourse and the evolution of social media as a platform for discussing racial injustice. Carney uses twitter as her subject and analyzes the opposing discourse surrounding hashtags “#BlackLivesMatter” and “#AllLivesMatter” occurring after the non-indictments of white police officers in the killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. These hashtags represent opposing ideology about police brutality and the persecution of black bodies. Carney begins by establishing Twitter as a place for marginalized youth of color to engage in meaningful discourse about their experiences of racial inequality. Carney notes that “different groups viewing the same media coverage interpret issues of race and police violence in drastically different ways”, proving the existence of confirmation bias on social media. Millennials have

Even after two years passing, Trayvon Martin’s murder still escalates throughout the world. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed February 26, 2012 by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was the neighborhood-watch and said he thought Trayvon looked suspicious as he returned home from the store. He called the police to report his findings but disobeyed protocol given by the dispatcher. Zimmerman was told to wait for police to arrive and not to pursue Martin. The actions of Zimmerman and Martin remain unknown after ending the call. Police arrived to the scene of Trayvon Martin shot and killed with a bullet wound to the chest. In Zimmerman’s trial he was found not guilty to the murder of this innocent seventeen year old boy, Trayvon Martin. He claimed he reacted in self defense. George Zimmerman did not deserve a ‘not guilty’ sentence because of his assumptions without proof, poor judgment, and stand your ground law.

Trayvon Martin was a victim of wilding. George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a 17 years old African American boy. Zimmerman is a neighborhood watch volunteer who spotted Martin and follow the allegedly suspicious person. Martin was unarmed during the altercation between the two of them. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and shot Martin. Martin was portrayed as a threat to society. Martin was walking back to his father home in the rain from the convenience store. He was carrying a bag of skittles and a drink. Martin was an innocent boy who was killed by Zimmerman. Zimmerman is an ultimate wilder. “He personified those twenty-first century gun toting Americans, viewing themselves as vigilantes protecting the public and themselves” (p.

George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman, shot and killed 17 year old Trayvon Marin in Sampson, Florida on March 25th, 2012.In the police report, Zimmerman claimed to have followed Martin out of the convenience store because he looked suspicious and that is when the altercation between the two began. Some words were shared between the two that led Zimmerman to step out of his car despite the police’s order to remain inside the vehicle. Zimmerman also told police that Trayvon knocked him down when he punched him in the nose and repeatedly slammed his head on the ground and that he had only reached for his gun because he feared for his life. The incident ended when 13 year old Austin Brown saw Zimmerman lying in the grass moaning and crying for help. Police soon arrived after a 911 call about hearing gunshots in the distance from another neighbor (Gutman, 2012). Fine details from that eventful night that would later be used in the investigation and trial are still left unanswered.

The authors, Yarimar Bonilla and Jonathan Rosa chose disciplines with the background in communications, sociology, and public affairs. These three disciplines are not only present in this article but also represent the issue as a whole. Social media reflects communication, society’s behavior portrays sociology, and the political viewpoints symbolize public affairs. Key concepts like ethnography, police brutality, social media, and activism are all exercised in the article to help determine if a hashtag could become a field site. Research methods such as communication research and content analysis are evident throughout the article. For example, the article discusses a numerical description by stating, “during the initial week of protests, over 3.6 million posts appeared on Twitter documenting and reflecting on the emerging details surrounding Michael Brown’s death” (Bonilla & Rosa 2015). The article does not directly state any key thinkers nor key theories but Black Lives Matter founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi all encourage the content of the article and the supported sources.

Our group chose to do the highly debatable case regarding George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. Based on the various parts from group members, it would seem we have both sides of the case so there will be discussion from either point of view. Our paper is not going to sway the reader in either direction, but simply state the facts for each side and give an overview of the case from our perspective.

In February 2012, Millions around the Country finally stud up to bring the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin to light. Martin was a 17 year old African American male in Seminole County, Florida who was gunned down by Neighborhood watchmen by the name of George Zimmerman. Martin was returning from the store on foot when Zimmerman spotted what looked like a criminal. Zimmerman notified authorities and was advised not pursue Martin. Zimmerman disregarded the police dispatcher’s orders and continued to follow Martin. He then confronted Martin and fatally shot him in the chest. When police arrived on the scene they questioned Zimmerman and decided to let him go free without properly looking into the events that took place. According to Zimmerman, Martin “fit the profile” of some of the vandals that had vandalized their neighborhood a few week ago. He fit the profile because he had on a hoodie and something strange in his hand (which turned out to be a pack of skittles and an Arizona Ice tea).

Trayvon was visiting his father in Sanford, Florida after getting a 10-day suspension from school for a possession of drug residue in backpack. His murderer, George Zimmerman was the neighborhood watch captain at the gated community of the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford. On the night of the murder, George called 911 to report a, as he described, a “suspicious person” walking through the neighborhood. His description of Trayvon perpetuates the racial bias and attitudes most non-African Americans have towards black Americans.

Seventeen year old Trayvon Martin was shot after leaving a 7-Eleven by the neighborhood watch captain a close connection of Sanford Florida police. This person of authority abused their power and shot an unarmed teenager. Unfortunately for Martin’s family this man took their child's life. Because of his race and the way he had dressed, Zimmerman

In George Zimmerman’s defense, his father came on TV to tell the world that his son had been wrongfully accused of bring a racist. His brother also showed up on the news claiming that there are medical reports that show that Martin had abused Zimmerman. (CNN?) As the investigation progressed, phone calls made by witnesses were released. One phone call stood out from the others; in the background of the call, Martin’s cry for help is heard. (ABC News, 2012) After the New Black Panther Party started rallies against Zimmerman and proposed a $10,000 reward for his “capture,” Zimmerman’s father spoke out again to say that Trayvon Martin threatened to kill his son, so he pulled the trigger in self-defense. (CNN?) The state attorney on the case, Angela Corey, got appointed as special prosecutor. Zimmerman’s attorney(s) lost contact with him and stopped working the case. It was believed then that Zimmerman had fled Florida. (Crimesider staff, 2012) On April 11, 2012, Angela Corey announced, “George Zimmerman will be charged with second-degree murder for the shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin.” (CNN Wire staff, 2012) As

Social media has evolved dramatically in its way it impacts our community, nation and world as a whole. Websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are the reason that we are so aware of our surroundings and everything going on around the world today. It is incredible when we think about how much these social media platforms allow us to see, from what is going on in The White House, what is going on in our local community, or even the latest fail videos uploaded to YouTube. The way videos can go from being filmed on one’s personal phone or camcorder, to being the top viewed video on the internet is truly mesmerizing. In 1992, there was an incident in California that involved Rodney King, a taxi cab driver who had a run in to the police that

On the night of February 26, 2012 “George Zimmerman who was the coordinator for his Sanford neighborhood watch association is

Unfortunately, society is not receiving all of the information, which has resulted in riots and the Black Lives Matter campaign. These riots are aggressive, resulting in the destruction of communities and an overall disregard for societal safety. By analyzing media coverage, this paper will reveal how the

In summation, we looked at social conflict as it related to class, race and ethnicity, gender, and how it explains the Black Lives Matter Movement. As we examined the literature, we asked how and why did the Black Lives Matter Movement begin? What are the problems with the Black Lives Matter Movement? What does social media have to say about the Black Lives Matter Movement? What is the youth’s culture’s input on the Black Lives Matter Movement? How does the Black Lives Matter movement tie back to the police? And where are we going with the Black Lives Matter Movement post-2016? We focused on whether or not the Black Lives Matter movement had the potential to affect change and have a long-lasting impact on society as a social movement. Therefore,

LeFebvre and Armstrong (2018) explore the way that a grievance-based social movement, like the Ferguson protests, applies to the uses of new media and information and communication technologies. The "Twitter Storm" that occurred around November 2014 due to the death of Michael Brown was also analyzed. We believe that we can connect LeFebvre and Armstrong’s analysis of the “Twitter Storm” surrounding the #Ferguson protests to the way that Alyssa Milano created a similar storm with her tweet urging the (#) MeToo. Through the authors’ research, we plan to incorporate these concepts into our analysis of the ‘Me Too’ movement, since both platforms have heavy social media presence in the United