Black Teen Killed for Carrying Skittles
Black Teen Killed for Carrying Skittles
by Steven D
Mon Mar 12th, 2012 at 11:58:09 AM EST
If you are a young black male, such as Trayvon Martin and you make the mistake of walking home in a gated community in Orlando, FL, with bags of skittles concealed in your pockets, you will be shot and killed. Not by the police, mind you, but by the Captain of a Neighborhood Watch program, who made a 911 call regarding a "suspicious person" back on the evening of February 26th.
Before the police arrived on the scene, 17 year old Trayvon, who was visiting his father's fiancee and his step-brother, was already dead from a single shot to his chest, delivered from a gun carried by by George Zimmerman, a 28 year old white man, and the same individual who made the 911 call. Trayvon had nothing on his person except for 2 bags of skittles and a can of ice tea, which he had purchased at the local 7-11.
Oddly enough, the police investigation of this incident is still ongoing, Mr. Zimmerman (who received a bloody nose from an alleged scuffle with the deceased) isn't talking, and the family of this child (yes 17 is still a child) is questioning the authorities as to why no progress has been made in this case:
“I’m a normal mother. I just want justice for my son,” Fulton said, speaking at the same Miami Gardens church where the teen was previously laid to rest. “My heart is broken. I keep thinking he is going to walk in through the door and the nightmare is going to end.”
The police have refused to release the tape of the 911 call Zimmerman made that night, as well as the tapes from other 911 calls made by residents regarding the alleged fight between Zimmerman and Trayvon. The family, frustrated after weeks have passed and nothing has been done, have filed a lawsuit to force the police to turn over the 911 tapes as well as all the other investigative documents. They believe they have been lied to by the police and are being given the run around by the local authorities so that Trayvon's killer can go free.
more...
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/3/12/11589/4959
= new reply since forum marked as read
If we are reading about it, how could his family NOT know? 
I've never heard of cops being that way with anybody. That just makes it smell more fishy imo. You would think that taking a persons life would be the most important choice a person will make in their lifetime. From the article, it reads like Zimmerman could not wait to kill that kid with his gun!
I feel so sorry for the parents, their world must be turned upside down right now. 
Where is justice for the child?
Yep...really hard to understand by some, guess they didn't read the article. 
You really should delete this... 
The threads linked are relevant to the topic of conversation and as you well know I'm no lover of gun violence. I think I'll let my post stand. If you want to see a call out thread - I'm controlling my dismay at this incident in the best way I know, pointing out the ridiculousness of the culture that puts a gun in that mans hand and tells him to confront a teenager over nothing. If you don't like it, I suggest you go down-thread and see that the local police department won't be charging this POS Zimmerman. I'm tired of being told that more guns is the answer - it's not as this thread illustrates quite well
Don't like it, sorry but that's not uncivil - if you believe it to be a violation of the DU Community Standards, by all means, alert on the post.
First Posted: 03/ 9/2012 6:45 pm Updated: 03/12/2012 11:36 am
An attorney for the family of Trayvon Martin, the teenager shot to death last month by a neighborhood watch captain in an Orlando, Fla., suburb, said police withheld the shooter's violent past from the slain youth's family.
Police initially told Martin’s family that George Zimmerman, 28, admitted to shooting Martin, 17, on Feb. 26, after he called 911 and reported a suspicious person, said the attorney, Benjamin Crump. Zimmerman said the shooting was in self-defense, police said.
Zimmerman, who is white, has not been charged in the death of Martin, who was black. Police in Sanford, where the shooting occurred, told Martin’s family that Zimmerman had a “squeaky-clean” record and that’s why they had not arrested him, according to Tracy Martin, the teen’s father.
Crump said public records show that Zimmerman was arrested in Orange County in 2005 on charges of resisting arrest with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer.
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin_n_1335984.html
and the additional info. As tragic as I first thought this was, seeing the young man makes it seem even more so.
...are people just like you and I. There's something about our culture that allows us to compartmentalize their deaths as meaningless or insignificant. That we've allowed the gun violence debate in this country to be politically marginalized and shunted by "libertarian" extremists is shameful.
...but it really doesn't seem like he was a 6'10 300 pound menace who could kill with his bare hands in an instant.
You missed the sarcasm? Judging from the pictures in the news videos he couldn't have been more than 6 feet and 160 - he wasn't a big kid.
Bet he looked like a die hard thug waving that sack of skittles....
Do I need to put this up?
The Sanford Police Department is investigating, trying to determine whether Zimmerman is guilty of manslaughter. No charges have been filed by the local police department, which plans to conclude its investigation soon. At that time, the State Attorney's Office will decide whether to present the evidence to a grand jury.
http://www.bet.com/news/national/2012/03/09/why-was-trayvon-martin-killed.html
Release the 9/11 tapes. If he was told to remain in his vehicle and to not approach - that ought to be enough. I don't get how the burden of proof is on the victim! 
Very sad story.
Just going down to the store to get some snacks to share with his brother while watching a game, then getting his life ended by some Dirty Harry wannabe 
gee I wonder why?
