The Death Of The United States

Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a 17 year old African American from Miami Gardens, Florida. He was badly shot by George Zimmerman; a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman called 911 to report that there was “suspicious person” walking through the neighborhood. He was told to not do anything, but he did anyway. As he approached Martin, he attacked him and shot him straight to the heart. According to CNN, “Zimmerman acknowledges that he shot Martin, claiming it was in self-defense.” (“Trayvon Martin Shooting Fast Facts”). When the case was taken to court George Zimmerman was found not guilty even after he

On February 26, 2012, an African-American teen, Trayvon Martin, was fatally shot by a neighborhood watchmen, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman assumed that Martin looked suspicious then he called the police after being told not to pursue Martin he continues to and the situation ended in a tragedy. The case gained national attention and stirred up many protests around the U.S. All the facts proved that Zimmerman was guilty of wrongfully killing Martin and Martin was not an actual threat just a black man wearing a hoody. After a year, George Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin. Once again, the justice system failed African American people. This case proved although there was a Black man in the highest position in the U.S., the justice system was still broken. Across the states riots broke out and protest and the president had to address the issue. President Obama gave an unscheduled speech addressing the issue. The president

February 26,2012 on a rainy day Trayvon Martin was returning to his father's girlfriend's house in Sanford, Florida, after he went to the local 7-Eleven. He brought a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona iced tea for his little brother. As he walked home, the unarmed 17-year-old was on the cell phone with his female friend. Trayvon was spotted by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch, who was patrolling the gated community, at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, in his vehicle. Zimmerman called 911 to report what he described as Martin a “suspicious person”, telling the operator he looked like he was "up to no good, on drugs or something". Zimmerman was warned by the operator not to follow the teenager. But he did, getting out of his vehicle and taking

On the night of his death, February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin was in Sanford, Florida on a visit to his father's fiancee and her son at The Retreat at Twin Lakes. As Zimmerman noticed him he called the police non-emergency number to report a suspicious person in community, describing Martin as a very suspicious guy reporting that he had his hand in waistband and was walking around looking at homes. Also, Zimmerman is quoted saying that “he is just walking around looking about in the rain”, and “This guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something”(Wikipedia). Although the way he described him led to think of what view Zimmerman had of innocent, unarmed Trayvon who seemed like any other teenager walking about on the way

Martin, while staying with his father and stepmother, walked to the local 7-11 for snacks, famously depicted in social media as Skittles and Arizona Ice Tea. On his journey back, Zimmerman spotted Martin, whose hoodie was up; Zimmerman then called the police to consult law enforcement officers on how to approach the “suspicious” character. The Sanford Police advised against confrontation, but Zimmerman took matters into his own hands, and proceeded to pursue Martin, fire his weapon, and kill the seventeen-year-old (“Trayvon Martin”). Martin was declared dead when the police arrived at the scene, where Zimmerman stood with the act as self-defense (“The Trayvon Martin Case”). This case was very controversial in that Martin was fired upon without any real threat towards Zimmerman, leading to accusations of racial profiling of black youths. To make matters worse, Zimmerman was found not guilty, due to lack of sufficient evidence, and acquitted of the second-degree murder charges (“Trayvon Martin”). This caused major unrest throughout the nation, sparking outrage and protests among many African Americans and equal rights advocates, alike. Critics of Zimmerman not only call foul on

One night in a Florida gated community a young man named Trayvon Martin, was walking down the streets of a mostly white community, stopped by George Zimmerman who was a neighborhood watch resident.Mr. Martin was stopped for being “suspicious” and “up to no good” according to Mr.Zimmerman. Trayvon was fatally shot by Mr. Zimmerman out of “self defense”. Really “Self defense” he was carrying a bag of skittles and a Arizona Tea. This young man was nothing but harmless but was victimed for being African-American.George Zimmerman would rather later stand trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin was found not guilty,until April 2012 he was found guilty of second degree murder.Although there are positives and negatives of this argument, the Black Lives

Just for wearing a hoodie, carrying an Arizona Tea and for being black he was shot and killed. In the book “Deadly Injustice: Travyon Martin, Race, and the Criminal Justice System“ the authors go on to discuss what happened that night and in the trial that preceded. It also helped me deliberate with how certain deaths are portrayed online. This being one of the biggest cases to hit the news and was brought to almost everyone in the United States attention, even the President at the time made a statement about what had happened to this young man. Social media spreaded this article like a wildfire and soon everyone knew what had happened that night in Florida. One of the main reasons why it was difficult to convict Zimmerman of this crime was because of the “Stand your ground” law After this the tension between black males and police officers rose to an even higher extent. African Americans often feel as if they are treated by police unfairly and with situations like this happening it help supported how they felt. Additionally with cases like in Ferguson and what happened in Lousivelle when four innocent teens were accused of robbing a woman with a weapon where they were later found not guilty of the

The shooting of Trayvon Martin is one of the most controversial incidents of the decade. Trayvon Martin was a young African American teen fallen victim to the evil of racial discrimination. One evening while walking home Trayvon was shot by a hispanic man named George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was on neighborhood patrol on a rainy day in Florida, and he noticed a black male walking through the neighborhood. He immediately jumped to conclusions and called the police who told him to leave the man walking alone because there was no need to follow him anyway, but Zimmerman did not listen. He confronted the young black male and after a little altercation Zimmerman shot the boy in an act of “self defense”. Zimmerman killed someone because of a profile created based on the color of someone's skin. Now besides the fact that a young boy was killed due to racial profiling, what’s even worse is the

George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch leader, was driving to Target to run a errand on the night of February 26, 2012 when he observed a suspicious person, leisurely walking in the rain, looking at all the houses, wearing a grey hoodie as he would tell dispatch in his 911 call made at 7:09 p.m. Moments later an altercation occurred between Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, which left Trayvon dead from a single gunshot wound to his chest and Zimmerman with a bloody nose and a cut to the back of his head. Zimmerman asserted that the shooting was done in self-defense because he thought Trayvon was reaching for his ( Zimmerman’s ) concealed gun and he feared for his life. Eye witness accounts of the event backed his claim that Trayvon was hitting him, but Rachel Jeantel, who had been on the phone with Trayvon,

officers was on their way and told Zimmerman not to follow the allegedly suspicious person, but

Zimmerman then called 9-1-1 and reported him to the police he then told the police he was following him the officer on the call responded by telling Zimmerman “we don’t need you to do that” but, Zimmerman continued his pursuit. Nevertheless, victim Martin was on the phone with a friend during this time knowing the man had been following him as Zimmerman continued to follow him Martin took off running like any other human being would who was being followed by a strange unknown person. Zimmerman chased after Martin where Martin was caught by Zimmerman and an argument broke out as to why he was following him, which lead to a scuffle according to Zimmerman where he then took his gun out and fired a shot into the 17-year-old killing him. In chapter IV and V hill points on the phrase “stand your ground” on several pages and points out William Blackstone, who provides us with legal thinker parses the crime three categories: justifiable, excusable, and felonious. Justifiable is a murder committed by the order of the state, excusable is an act of murder committed without intent. There is a “stand your grown” law that allows you to enact in ways needed to protect yourself if needed

On the night of the murder, Zimmerman, who was then part of the neighborhood watch committee, called the police at 7:09 pm to report a “suspicious teenager” walking through the neighborhood. When the police told him not to approach the teen and wait for them to get there, Zimmerman replied, “[t]hese assholes, these fucking punks, they always get away with it.” Not listening to the police, Zimmerman followed Martin and was once again told to stop his pursuit by the 911 operator. After arguing on the phone, Zimmerman said that he will stop following Martin. Martin, who was on the phone with his friend, Rachel Jeantel, was unarmed and was carrying a bag of skittles and an Arizona tea. Zimmerman said that he confronted Martin and then Martin tackled him to the ground and repeatedly punched him and smashed his head into the concrete. Through all the chaos, Zimmerman somehow was able to reach for his gun and shot Martin in the chest. A few minuted later, neighbors called the police and Martin was pronounced dead. Zimmerman was not arrested at the scene and it was not until April 11, 2012, after many protests that Zimmerman was arrested. He was charged with second degree murder and pleaded not guilty due to the “Stand Your Ground” law. Zimmerman’s jury was made up of five white women and one mixed woman who identified as Hispanic. Rachel Jeantel was the star witness of the case

were held in cities nationwide, including New York City, where on March 21 hundreds of

Zimmerman was not charged with any crime due to Florida Statutes Title XLVI Chapter 776 – Justifiable Use of Force, also known as Stand Your Ground, which states, “A person is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using or threatening to use defensive force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another…” With this law the “fear of death” only has to be imagined in order for use of deadly force to be used.

The State of Florida v. George Zimmerman was a criminal prosecution of George Zimmerman on the charge of second-degree murder stemming from the shooting of Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012. This case has been regarded as one of the most controversial in a long time, sparking riots and new movements along with an opening of greater conversations about this country’s gun laws, legal system and racial profiling.