*On Monday in Sanford, Florida, Trayvon Martin’s family lashed out at authorities, claiming officials are attempting to smear Trayvon in an effort to bolster George Zimmerman’s claim he was acting in self-defense when he shot the unarmed 17-year-old last month.
“Even in death, they are still disrespecting my son, and that is a shame,” Martin’s father, Tracy, flanked by Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, said at a press conference in Sanford, Fla., where 25,000 were expected to attend an afternoon rally to protest the police’s handling of the case.
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The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, said Martin’s son had been suspended for 10 days from his high school the day he was shot after traces of marijuana were found in his book bag. Martin’s father had said previously Trayvon was suspended after being found in an unauthorized area at the school.
“If he and his friends experimented with marijuana, that is completely irrelevant to George Zimmerman killing their son on the night of Feb. 26,” Crump said. “Law enforcement is attempting to demonize and blame the victim.”
“They killed my son, and now they are trying to kill his reputation,” Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, said, holding back tears.
Sharpton said he knew police would attempt to characterize Martin as a “junkie” and “demonize the victim.”
“Discuss what Mr. Zimmerman had in his system,” Sharpton said. “Enough of the double standard.”
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Brace yourself sir because you and Ms. Fulton’s character will be next to be disrespected and tarnished in an effort to blame the victim rather than pursue justice going after the killer provacateur.
“THEY killed my son” wow now talking about a racist…whom does he mean killed his son…whites…?
Can you clarify how by saying ‘They killed my son’ equates to ‘whites’? Why ask what he means if you have already made up your mind what he said. That doesn’t make sense.
It is amazing how people want to skew one side of the story. When the other side fights fire with fire then they are somehow the bad guy. This outrage was based on less than half of the story. It is to the point where there is no rationale when dealing with the evidence. This is going to be another mess like the Tawana Brawley and Duke lacross situations were.
No this won’t be a Duke nor Tawanna case because unlike in those, we have evidence that there is a victim, the one who’s dead.
Also unlike in those, Zimmerman (the murderer) was not arrested nor interrogated. We know (as fact) that he disobeyed law enforcement orders. We know that the drug tested Trayvon. We know that they never contacted the family even though they had his cell phone. We know that they held his body for 3 days before the family saw him.
None of that compares to the Tawana/Duke affairs.
What evidence do you have that he disobeyed the order. There is nothing that fully indicates that. This is a prime example of trying this in the court of public opinion. This will be another Duke and Brawley moment when all the dust settles.
Wait, so you don’t have the evidence but remain convinced that what we do know makes this case akin to Duke? Really? And you typed this w/a straight face?
So the evidence that we do have is irrelevant to you because it means the case is being tried in the media and people shouldn’t be able to put two and two together?
I’m really disappointed in the way they are going about this. It’s like they are afraid to fight back with all the crap that Zimmerman’s camp is throwing at them. I don’t know if this is a strategy which they chose looking ahead at the trial. But it seems like a mutual decision between the family and the media, not to portray Trayvon as defending himself in any manner, even though Florida’s law gives him the right to.
Sharpton and the MSNBC crew seems intent on not using it. Last night, I only heard it mentioned on Current TV. But it seems to me in light of the onslaught, you have to fight fire with fire.
Now that Zimmerman is claiming that Trayvon assaulted him, instead of ducking, they should respond to it as a possible scenario and so what. Doesn’t Florida’s Stand Your Ground law give him that right?
Florida’s Stand Your Ground law:
“A person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if…he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.”
This argument can be used to effectively counter every claim made by Zimmerman. If Trayvon jumped him and was even trying to crack his skull on the pavement, or tried to disarm him, then all that is protected under the law. The law didn’t say that you only had to use a gun to stand your ground. A heard a man was stabbed and they are using Stand Your Ground in that case.
Have you been under a rock (bigruss)? It was clear from the 911 calls they told Zimmerman not to follow him. And Red is right!!! The same Stand Your Ground Law applies to Trayvon too. He didnt know Zimmerman and it was clear Zimmerman confronted him by the conversation with the girlfriend on the phone and the time frame from him getting shot and the phone records and when the police arrived. His fat ass probably tried to apprehend Trayvon and Trayvon got the best of him and how would Trayvon know he had a gun unless he was the one waving the gun at Trayvon. And if Trayvon had any drugs in his system trust me this would have been all over the news. Why Trayvon was suspended from school has nothing to do why he was murdered!!!!!!!!
Show me where Zimmerman confronted Trayvon other than the earwitness comments from the girlfriend. Further show me the timeline of the calls. Finally, Zimmerman has his own story. You can choose to b believe what you want. That is your right. I choose to look at the whole story.
No, you “choose” to believe Zimmerman and not the whole story. If you were really interested in the whole story, there isn’t any way in which you could also then conclude that the case will settle as is. Sounds to me that you believe Zimmerman and the facts don’t go much further than that.
Don’t front on eur. It ain’t nothing “holistic” about your perspective here..nothing at all.
You will never have the WHOLE story because Trayvon can’t give his half of the story.
No need for me to front. My perspective is law and rule of law not overblown vigilante justice. I don’t let my emotions rule my thoughts. I never said there would be no arrest or conviction. My debate is against the over politicization of the issue.
As someone who had an up close, too up close, dealing with the in’justice’ system, I too don’t let emotions rule my thoughts. I guess you think Emmett Till’s mother over politicized her son’s killing as well by wanting to have an open casket funeral for all the world to see what those animals did to her only son?
The saddest part in all of this is, it takes this much commotion to get justice…OMG…the bottom line is: HE PURSUED Trayvon AFTER he was told not too…what did Zimmerman actually tell the police when they arrived on the scene and found a dead body? Clearly the cops dropped the ball and were hoping this would be swept under the rug like the white boy that beat the black homeless man…
I just read in several articles that George Zimmerman’s father is a retired magistrate judge of Orange County, Florida. I wondered just why George Zimmerman was receiving special treatment. Yeah, that’s it. Shame on all of those cowards. God will have the final say in all of this and may the Lord comfort the Martin family.