Wearing A Hoodie While Holding Juice and Candy in the State of Florida Could Get You Killed.
Approximately five years ago, news surfaced that a young seventeen year old boy, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch man. The young boy who was killed was an African American male about to graduate high school and the man who is quoted as being a hero was a twenty-nine year old man, George Zimmerman. (Gutman,Matt)
Zimmerman claimed that Martin looked suspicious because he had never seen him in the area before and he was on the lookout for local robbers. As it turns out, Martin was visiting family in the area. It is very important to ask yourselves, why do you think Zimmerman thought Martin looked suspicious. My personal opinion is that Zimmerman thought that Martin looked suspicious because Martin was black. He was a black male, who looked like he didn't belong in this gated community in the eyes of Zimmerman. And furthermore despite the weather being cold, and Martin wanting to use a hoodie to warm himself up, this hoodie was looked at as a weapon.
The first step that Zimmerman took was reasonable. He called the police to report the "suspicious" boy who was wearing a hoodie while carrying candy and juice. Once that call was made, the operator informed Zimmerman not to follow Martin, but Zimmerman ignored this order and proceeded to follow Martin throughout the neighborhood.
According to Zimmerman, once he approached Martin, Martin became upset, exchanged words with him and then proceeded to punch Zimmerman in the face. Zimmerman testified and stated that Martin was going to either kill him by punching him or he would have grabbed his gun. (Buckley)
To me, Martin had every reason to feel as if Zimmerman was a threat to him. In the eyes of Martin, I could see how nervous he must have felt. Here, at night, he was being watched, questioned and followed by a man who he had never before seen in his life so I could see why Martin would have became upset and would have exchanged words with Zimmerman. I personally do not believe that Zimmerman was punched by Martin for no reason. To me, this simply does not make sense because what would have been Martin's justification for randomly punching Zimmerman. Sadly we will never know Martin's account on the situation because Zimmerman used his gun as an unfair advantage and killed the teen.
Once the trial was finished, the jury decided that Zimmerman was not guilty on accounts of murder because of Florida's Stand Your Ground Law. The Stand Your Ground Law allows people who believe they are in imminent danger to use deadly force (Cook, Phillip J). If we look at this situation, it is ridiculous for Zimmerman to believe that he was in imminent danger since he was the one who followed and approached Martin. Zimmerman should have listened and obeyed the orders of the 911 dispatcher. If he did then it is possible that this young man would still have his life. However, according to Florida's law, the photo evidence that shows Zimmerman had multiple scars on his face constitutes Zimmerman to kill Martin. The Stand Your Ground Law, that was put in place to protect certain individuals ended up harming Trayvon Martin deeper than the gunshot wound did. This specific law failed Trayvon Martin because it allowed an aggressor to claim self defense in the middle of an altercation and use deadly force (Blow.) The Stand Your Ground Law allowed Zimmerman to walk freely while Trayvon Martin lays six feet under the ground in a cemetery.
