Trayvon Martin's parents re-live a 'nightmare' (Must read)

Madison Times ^ | March 28, 2012 | George E. Curry, NNPA Special Contributor

[maggief]

(Note: Spacing added at line breaks for easier reading.)

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – On the night of Feb. 26, Tracy Martin and his girlfriend had gone out to dinner in Sanford, Fla., leaving his 17-year-old son, Trayvon, behind at the townhouse with plans to watch the NBA All-Star game scheduled to be televised at 7 p.m. from Orlando’s Amway Center.

Trayvon decided to walk to a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store to pick up a bag of Skittles candy and a can of Arizona iced tea before settling in to watch East v. West all-stars. On his way back to the gated community, however, Trayvon was stalked by George Zimmerman, a non-Black neighborhood watch captain armed with a 9 millimeter handgun and a head full of stereotypes about African-American males.

According to 911 tapes, Zimmerman, 28, told the emergency police dispatcher that he had spotted a suspicious young male walking in the neighborhood. “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He is on drugs or something.” Zimmerman said, “These ***holes. They are always getting away.”

When the dispatcher asked Zimmerman if he was following the young man in his vehicle, Zimmerman confirmed that he was. The 911 operator said, “OK, we don’t need you to do that.” Still, Zimmerman continued to follow Trayvon, who was unarmed. At one point, Zimmerman got out of his SUV, confronted Trayvon and fatally shot him in the chest.

Tracy Martin was unaware that his honor roll son, who was visiting from Miami, had been killed around 7 p.m. that Sunday.

Martin, Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton; Benjamin Crump, the family lawyer; Al Sharpton and former New York Gov. David Patterson participated in an exclusive 1-hour telephone conference call last Thursday with more than three dozen publishers from the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).

Martin told publishers how he learned that his son had been killed.

“I had been out to dinner. When we got back between 10:15 and 10:45, he wasn’t at home. The night before, he had been to the movies with my nephew, who had recently moved up to the Orlando area from Miami. Every time Trayvon would come up here, they would find something to do, usually they would go to dinner. My nephew is 20 years old, a very responsible young man. So there was not panic at that moment that he was not home. I made several attempts to call his cell phone and it was going straight to voicemail. I called my nephew’s cell phone and it was going straight to voicemail. So at that point, I figured they had been in the movies because they would always go to the movies.”

Tracy Martin and his girlfriend went to bed. But the next morning, the day Martin and his son had planned to return to Miami, he learned that Trayvon still wasn’t back in the house. Tracy called his nephew again, this time reaching him and learning that Trayvon wasn’t with him.

“I had [his girlfriend] call juvenile justice, just to check and see if anyone by the name of Trayvon Martin had been picked up. No Trayvon Martin,” the father told NNPA publishers. “My next call was to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department to see if any kid had been picked up.

“My third call was to a non-emergency number at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department and I informed them that I was filing a missing person’s report. I let them know it hadn’t been 24 hours, but it was unusual for Trayvon not to return home. I told them we were supposed to be leaving that morning when we woke up. They asked me a few questions about him: date of birth, height, complexion, weight and they told me they would dispatch a unit. Five minutes later, she called me back and asked what was he last wearing. I gave them a description of the clothes that he had on last. She said a unit would be out.”

At that point, Tracy Martin still had no clue that his son was dead.

He said, “I got up, got on clothes, went outside because I knew my kid was going to walk back up to the door. Instead, three cars pulled up to the door, one of them an unmarked police vehicle.

“The first officer approached. I introduced myself and told him I was filing a missing person’s report. The second person to approach was a plainclothes detective. He asked me if I had a recent picture of Trayvon and it just so happened that I had taken a picture in my camera, maybe a week or two prior to the incident. I showed them the picture. He told me to give him a second. He walked to his vehicle, retrieved a folder and asked could we go into the house. We walked into the house. He told me he was going to show me a photo and that he was going to ask me if this was my kid. And he pulled out the photo. From that point, it’s been like a nightmare.”

That nightmare was compounded by the decision not to arrest or prosecute Zimmerman, who admitted killing Trayvon. Led by Attorney Benjamin Crump, the family has been making the rounds of national television programs to share their story – and to express their outrage that Zimmerman hasn’t been brought to justice. Protests, many of them led by college students, have taken place across the country.

“In the Black community, we all see Trayvon in ourselves,” Sharpton said. “We all subconsciously know that we’re born as suspects rather than citizens and that’s what Trayvon was – he was a suspect.”

Sharpton explained, “What happened to Trayvon is that it brought to the surface the fear that all of us have for our children and ourselves. I think White America was stunned. Black America became ignited when we finally got it out there. They [Whites] thought having a Black president had solved it. And now, people working in their offices, in the next cubicle, were saying, ‘No, this is me.’ They relate to Trayvon – it was me.”

After three weeks of mobilizing on social media, keeping the story alive in Black newspapers and African-American radio, the mounting pressure forced Sanford, Fla. officials to release the 911 tapes. Those tapes – which show that Zimmerman disobeyed the 911 dispatcher’s directive that he not follow Trayvon – along with the decision not to arrest Zimmerman, forced Police Chief Bill Lee to temporarily step down as police chief on Thursday.

On April 10, a grand jury will be convened to determine whether Zimmerman should be indicted. Both the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division and the FBI are looking into the case to determine if any federal statues were violated.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has appointed a Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection to investigate how such tragedies can be avoided in the future. Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll will chair the special panel. Rev. R.B. Holmes, Jr, publisher of the Capital Outlook in Tallahassee, will serve as vice chair.

Sharpton led a rally Thursday night of more than 30,000 people in Sanford, many of them arriving from around the nation. Referring to the police chief, Sharpton said, “We did not come here for a temporary leave of absence. We came for permanent justice – arrest Zimmerman now.”

On Friday, President Obama expressed concern about the case.

“I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together, federal, state, and local, to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened,” Obama said. He added, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

If the son had dressed like Trayvon, he would have come under criticism.

On the March 23 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera said, “I am urging the parents of Black and Latino youngsters particularly to not let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.”

For some reason, Blacks are stigmatized for wearing a hoodie – a sweatshirt with a hood attached to it – but Whites, such as New England Patriots football coach Bill Belichick and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, are not.

NBA star Dwayne Wade posted a photo of himself Friday in a hooded top to his social media pages, while LeBron James tweeted a photo of 13 Miami Heat players wearing black hoodies with their heads bowed in a tribute to Trayvon.

“I saw a post that D-Wade had saying, ‘I am Trayvon Martin,’” Tracy Martin said. “To see all these athletes put Trayvon in the same sentence with them, it feels real good. Trayvon was an excellent athlete and if he could hear them saying his name, he would be so moved by it.” On Sunday, many churches honored Trayvon, who was wearing a hoodie when he was killed.

Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, preached the 11 a.m. service in a Morehouse College hoodie. In his sermon, Warnock compared Trayvon Martin to Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Chicago youth who was murdered near Money, Miss. in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a White woman. “Both young boys were killed for crossing some imaginary social line,” Warnock said. “Mr. Zimmerman took a gun to a Skittles fight. Apparently Zimmerman is innocent until proven guilty and Trayvon is guilty until proven innocent.”

Sybrina Fulton is still living with the pain of her son’s death.

“It just reminds me of an awful dream,” she said in the conference call with NNPA publishers. “It just seems like the pain goes away temporarily and then it comes back. It just feels like my heart is just heavy. I still have tears, I still cry. It’s just difficult. Each day is just difficult to get by.” Sanford police claim they couldn’t arrest Zimmerman because he was protected under Florida Statute 776.013 (3), the state’s stand your ground law that gives citizens broad protection if they are acting in self-defense.

Jeb Bush, who as governor of Florida signed “stand your ground” bill into law, said the law does not cover the neighborhood watch captain who shot Trayvon Martin to death.

“This law does not apply to this particular circumstance,” Bush said after an education panel discussion at the University of Texas at Arlington. “Stand your ground means stand your ground. It doesn’t mean chase after somebody who’s turned their back.”

Reflecting on the moment he was asked by police to identify his son, Tracy Martin said, “I can’t describe the feeling, I can’t describe what was going through my mind because I was actually staring at a photo of my pride and joy on the ground dead. I still see the photo now – his eyes weren’t closed all the way, his mouth wasn’t closed, it was the worst feeling of my life.”

[little jeremiah]

Zimmerman had the right to protect himself from a severe beatdown.

Since you posted that photo, why didn’t you post the others?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2864453/posts?page=150#150

Police: Zimmerman story is ‘consistent’ with evidence in Trayvon Martin shooting
Fox News ^ | March 27, 2012

Scoutmaster, you might be interested in the other photos and comments about them. Alice is pushing the MSM/Sharpton version.

[Eaker]

did Zimmerman have the legal right to kill him?

It appears that the answer is yes.

[little jeremiah]

Two other freepers who got it very wrong, have since apologized after realizing they swallowed the lies. ALice and one other leftist POS are still swallowing and spewing.

Alice refuses to stop drinking from the “Drink Me” bottle.

It is amazing what’s allowed on FR nowadays.

[tioga]

Trayvon’s father couldn’t reach him and went to bed? Honor roll? Trayvon was suspended from school 3 times. If he was on the honor roll that is a bit of a shocker.

[Eaker]

little jeremiah,

I’ll give you a big +1!

[little jeremiah]

Sometimes one has had it up to here (hand way above head) if you know what I mean.

[floriduh voter]

Alice, it's a real shame. I agree with the long time member. I am one as well, changed my name once after the 2000 election to make fun of the voters in S. Fla who couldn't understand the Butterfly Ballot. The bizarre part to me that I am being called a troll because I think a young man was shot down and his whole life is over. FR is pro-life. I would have presumed that alleged MURDER VICTIMS would be covered as well?

That long time freepers are being personally attacked for their opinion and if it isn't hoodies, it's tattoos or baggy pants mean something bad and definitely black, and I MUST HATE ZIMMERMAN, it's obvious.

What a bunch of horse puckey. Where are my freepers and who are these replacements who live in a stereotypical world and refuse to do their own research???? They REFUSE to sign up at Facebook and expect ME to go there and trot things back here for them.

Let's just call these bigots "the replacements" and I'm sure they know who they are by what they have already posted. I wore a hoodie today and in my own neighborhood. The hood was not even up.

Thanks to extremists, they have the entire country afraid of clothing. It's not the black community who is ginning up that CLOTHING IS SCARY.

[floriduh voter]

As I indicated, I was directing you to another thread which had more info on it about George Zimmerman. The “all” was for the Trayvon haters. I don’t think you are one but let’s just say I don’t think your my best pal. I have no agenda here but my speech is protected and I have dignity, not shame. Why would I pick on you? You wanted info from me and I found some. I’m not diabolical so there is no shame.

[Eaker]

You have that right.

[Scoutmaster]

Even if Martin dabbled in drugs, carried himself like a gangsta and wore tattoos, did Zimmerman have the legal right to kill him?

Whether Martin dabbled in the past in drugs has nothing do do with it. If Zimmerman said the person he was watching acted strange, like he was on drugs, and drugs were found in Martin's body, then that gives some credence to the fact that Zimmerman was watching Martin because he was acting strange (beyond walking around off the sidewalks), and not just because he was black. Whether Zimmerman had a legal right to kill Martin depends on Florida law, and the law in question is Florida Statutes Chapter 776, as amended by the Florida Stand Your Ground act of 2005.

We have to apply that law to the facts - and we don't know the facts yet. None of us do. For one thing, we're hearing contradictory 'facts.' But when it comes time to apply that law, one of the elements is Zimmerman's 'reasonable belief,' which will be determined by a reasonable man standard. As with similar standards, the appearance of the other party is relevant. In law school you're given the example of the gentle giant - a party who may not have an aggressive bone in his body but by virtue of his size would be viewed as a threat by a reasonable person who didn't know him. If - and we're not talking Trayvon here - a person chose to get a skull and crossbones and the words "kill 'em all" tattooed on his forehead, then in a fight it would likely be deemed more reasonable for you to be concerned about what the individual was going to do. If the individual said "I'm going to kill your *ss" as he beat on you, then that must be considered.

If Trayvon carried himself like a gangsta and wore certain type of tattoos, then a reasonable person may feel more threatened by him. But by a tattoo of him mother's name? Hardly. By a simple hoodie? Hardly.

Have you read Florida Statutes 776.012 and 776.041 and applied them to all of the facts favorable to Zimmerman? Forget tattoos and hoodies. IF Martin punched Zimmerman and knocked him down, and IF Martin was beating on Zimmerman for the nearly one minute that somebody was beating on somebody suggested by the timing of call #3 on the Sanford website, with a fight for the gun, what's your analysis under the Florida Statutes?

Had you had followed the one to the girlfriend you would have learned that she has never been interviewed by the police.

When I read about her, I'd find out that she has refused to give an interview to the police, correct? That's different than the police not wanting to interview her, isn't it?

[Scoutmaster]

I've worn hoodies since around 1971. But why do you call Trayvon Marin a "MURDER VICTIM"? You know 'murder' is a legal term, don't you? If you're saying murder, do you mean first- or second-degree murder? Why not manslaughter? And, as tragic as the shooting was, what facts are you certain of that renders Florida Statutes Chapter 776 irrelevant as a complete defense to a charge of murder or manslaughter as a matter of law?

By the way, I think the hoodie and tattoos (or tattoo, because I've seen nothing to indicate that the upper arm tattoo was his) are 99.8% irrelevant. I put my hood up when it's raining.

[Scoutmaster]

That long time freepers are being personally attacked for their opinion and if it isn't hoodies, it's tattoos or baggy pants mean something bad and definitely black, and I MUST HATE ZIMMERMAN, it's obvious.

Yeah, I've picked up on that. I've read posts that came close to saying "he wore a hoodie; he needed shooting." Or "he had on a hoodie, that's proof to me that he attacked Zimmerman, and the underlying, unspoken part seems to be 'he had on a hoodie [and he was black], that's proof to me that he attacked Zimmerman'." I think of the outsiders reading FR and I simply cringe.

[floriduh voter]

Some posters were freaking out about fashion trends. I think that's the inherent problem. If we are afraid of clothes, then might not we be fear fear itself?

I'm not trying this case at FR. Where are the blood spatters on George Zimmerman and on Trayvon Martin and with that, I have nothing more to say.

[floriduh voter]

I have my distance glasses on. Sorry for the statement there about fearing fear itself which came out wrong.

[floriduh voter]

Nobody knows how long this is going to unfold. I just can't imagine the vitriol could possibly exist at this level until a final resolution. It takes a lot of negative energy to post such cringeworthy statements. I'm hopin' the vitriol tapers off.

The kid's official pages are tame. Maybe they have a PR person running their pages but they're not going out of bounds imo. I bet they have a PR person which was a smart thing to do.

[cynwoody]

Dan published photos ~ and tweets ~ of the wrong fellow!

As it happens, I found a Google cache of Trayvon Martin's Twitter account, @NO_LIMIT_NIGGA.

Martin used this photo as his Twitter page background:

That's the mugshot of rapper Corey Miller, aka C-Murder, who is doing life without parole for beating up and shooting to death 16-year-old Steve Thomas in 2002 at a night club in Harvey, Louisiana. Quite the role model for an up and coming wannabe gang banger, don't you think?

Martin's Twitter account handle was NO_LIMIT_NIGGA. He listed his name as SLIMM, his location as YO HOE CRIB, and his favorite website as LIES.COM. Dude liked caps!

And it is for sure the right fellow's account. It contained a birthday greeting from the lovely and charming EatYhurBrainz, aka Kia (whose ballistic background pic would have pleased Doc Edgerton). Kia turns out to attend the same high school as Martin. And her greeting would have been sent on the evening of 5 February. Martin was born on 5 February 1995.

You can see the Google cache, dated Feb 6, 2012 12:29:45 GMT, here. (You will need to disable JavaScript to avoid being redirected to a blank Twitter page.)

[Fantasywriter]

No, you didn’t direct me to a thread w more info. This is how that would look:

‘Hey, FW, here is a thread w more info on it.’

You directed me to ‘stop hatin’ on Trayvon’.

Here is how that looked:

Ping to Fantasywriter [the only non-’Trayvon supporter’ you pinged by name]:

“Ya’ll quit hating Trayvon and we will wait for the DA to prosecute George Zimmerman before a jury of his peers.”

You should be ashamed because like so many Trayvon supporters you’re not honest. Yes, you could have pinged me to a thread w more info. [Which I did not ask for. I asked for a specific quote and a link, which you never provided. Another poster provided that for me—one that evidently understands plain English.] But you didn’t. You pinged me to ‘stop hatin’ on Trayvon—something I have never done.

Stop dissembling. What you did is a matter of record, and no matter how many times you deny it, the truth is right there in black and white.

And you folks wonder why you’re not helping your cause. It should be obvious. When you gratuitously insult people on multiple levels and practice blatant deception, how can you expect to advance your case?

[floriduh voter]

I thought you were done posting to me or was it vice versa? Anyway, I'm having a great night. Trayvon Mmrtin and his family aren't and neither is George Zimmerman and his family.

Don't get me started on CSI cuz they acted ridiculously. I am white and a conservative. Good night.

[floriduh voter]

I’ve explained to blogs for Trayvon that conservatives and republicans are not against Trayvon. We want the investigation to proceed. I’m doing CYA for conservatives and Trayvon folks get it. It’s helpful for me to represent there as a conservative to counter the stupid stuff that MSNBC is saying that this is right wing. They aren’t putting MSNBC junk on T’s blogs I’ve been to. Sharpton’s a tool, in more ways than one but he’s a bit player.