Zimmerman

On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin.

I think the Zimmerman shooting was the first incident of it's kind that I remembered personally. I was 16, just hitting the age where I was old enough and interested enough to understand and remember current events. My mother was in a fury about the shooting. She got her hands on every bit of information as it came out.

Zimmerman was part of neighborhood watch in a gated community in Sanford, Florida. His neighborhood had suffered several break ins in the past, and he had made similar calls to the police before February 26th.

He saw Trayvon Martin, walking down the street 'suspiciously', and made a call to the police. Despite being told following Martin was unneccassary, Zimmerman followed him, which lead to a confrontation which ended with Martin fatally shot and Zimmerman with some minor injuries to his face and head.


Zimmerman's call to the department:



Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder for this act.

Controversy on all sides surrounded the case. On the one hand, Zimmerman's initial defense was founded in the 'Stand Your Ground Act', which removes the 'duty to retreat' normally given in self-defense trials, if the defendant has right to be where he/she was at the time. This is usually applied in cases where someone is threatened in their own home - in states where this law applies, those persons would not be required to flee the premises before using violence. In Zimmerman's case, he was outside but still within his gated community, which would bring the law into effect. The law itself is controversial and difficult to define.

Furthermore, early media reported Zimmerman as white, when he's identified as Hispanic.  NBC also released an edited clip of Zimmerman's report that made it seem as if he volunteered Martin's race without being asked. These media discrepancies were cited as an attempt to fit the incident more neatly into a story of racial violence.

The most troubling aspect of the case was the fame - and even a bit of fortune - that Zimmerman recieved. He's sold a painting of an American flag (the composition of which was from an uncredited stock image from stockoverflow) for $100,000, and has stated he's sold the gun he used to shoot Martin for over $100,000 as well.

His actions are still defended by some, even though he's since been accused of domestic violence and other unstable crimes.


~ Nichole Lasater