Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Friends, it is time for us to speak up and speak out regarding a recent tragedy in our own backyard.
Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman on the evening of February 26th.
Orange County Young Democrats on the Trayvon Martin case:
“It is with great sadness that we watch Mr. Martin’s family struggle over the recent loss of their son. Trayvon has become yet another innocent victim of gun violence that so disproportionately affects the African-American community.”
“We stand in solidarity with local community leaders who are calling for the arrest of George Zimmerman, the man who took the life of Trayvon. As this investigation moves forward, we believe that Mr. Zimmerman should spend this time behind bars, instead of basking in the light of freedom. Trayvon’s family deserves more and so does our community.”
“This atrocity occurred over two weeks ago and Trayvon’s family still sits back and waits for answers. Our community will not stand for such discord for much longer.”
“As a collective, we are tired of such callused treatment regarding issues that impact our community. In 2007, African-Americans made up over 55 percent of all firearm homicides. At some point, this has to stop. Like the rest of the community, we are watching, and if no action is taken to resolve this matter, you will continue to hear from our organization and other concerned citizens.”
This Zimmerman is a nut job. He needs to go back to Cuba. Why do all the miscreants end up in the US? This yellow bellied sap sucker deserves the death penalty at the hands of the boys father. .
What a cover up! This idiot ignores a trained law enforcement. 911 dispatcher and murders a minor in cold blood. He needs to be in jail charged with murder. He didn’t see a citizen..he saw a bigger…someone who meant nothing to him. That police chief needs to grow a pair and arrest this punk before he kills again. What about the cop Zimmerman assaulted? Hey Zimmerman don’t drop the soap…
Mr. Zimmeraman, as captain of the local neighborhood watch, I thought you should be aware of terrible incident in which, far from the burglars or thieves we try to watch for, a vicious criminal came to our neighborhood carrying a concealed, loaded gun. He cruised the streets of the neighborhood and came upon the 17 year son of one of our resident’s boyfriend. We don’t understand why, but for some reason the man got out of his car and went for the boy, who ran… the man chased him through the neighborhood and when the teen turned to face him, they began fighting. The man pulled out his gun and murdered the seventeen year old. We are still trying to figure out a motive… it couldn’t have been robbery.. all the boy had was some candy and a can of tea he had just bought for his little brother. I know you take pride in your title as watch captain and it must sadden you deeply to know that there was a murder, right here, between our walls… a gun was fired, a life taken… perhaps you can with your vast knowledge of law enforcement from the classes you take and your friends down at the station you have a private line to, help us make sense of this tragedy and somehow profile the shooter and tell us what makes someone like that tick… what makes them chase a teenage boy through our yards and shoot him? I know you take personal responsibility for protecting the people in our neighborhood so it must be particularly difficult for you that despite all your efforts to keep us safe… someone slipped through and murdered one of our own.
self defense is when you are pursued, threatened and/or attacked, and u have to DEFEND YOURSELF from the attacker. . . the police are flat out lying when they say they cant arrest this murderer. . . . the child he shot and killed was defending HIMSELF from a vicious scary violent gun carrying attacker by running and trying to get away from him. . . the fact that the boy RAN AWAY FROM HIM is enough to throw the killers “self defense” bulls*** in the trash. . . AND THE POLICE KNOW THIS. . . . .
What century is this again?
They really shouldn’t be calling for an arrest. They should be calling for more resources to properly complete the investigation. Moving the investigation to the county and is probably causing delays.
It would be worse to prematurely or incorrectly charge Zimmerman and possibly allow him to escape all consequence.
It’s sad that so many are rushing to judgement with an incomplete investigation. We need the truth. Not racially charge assumptions.
The community association who allowed Zimmerman to patrol the neighborhood and gave him the title as “captain” is partially responsible to the teen’s family for this tragedy. If Zimmerman is not held accountable for his crime, the teen’s family should go after the association for allowing this armed Zimmerman animal on their neighborhood streets.
My father is also on a Neighborhood Watch committee in his neighborhood. He and his neighbors are NEVER armed. They are sometimes accompanied by a City Council member or member of the local police department, but my father and his neighbors know (and were trained by the police) to never confront people, their volunteer role is to just be the eyes and ears around the area for law enforcement.
anyone in this message room who thinks this zimmerman was justified in this shooting is nothing but a racist bastard, this idiot was nothing but another trigger happy a**hole who say an opportunity to fire a weapon and took it, carma is a mutha and he will get his
for the police to condone this idiots actions and then attempt to change a key witness statment is a major joke, this is rosewood all over again, let that clown pull that garbage in chicago
this is to duker61, i hope you choke off that insensitive ass comment what if that were your son? i bet you wouldnt be so quick to say that garbage then, its people like you making retarded ass statements like that that make this the most hated country in the entire world
@ikecot3rd2003. Right. Let’s continue to spew hate and racist comments while we speculate what happened.
Let’s call people names because that really adds to the discussion and helps get to the truth.
Who is being insensitive? “racist bastard”, “idiot”, “another trigger happy a**hole”, “police to condone”, “idiots” (spelling but we get the idea), “major joke” are all sensitive constructive words that help the discussion. All your words.
Unless you were there, anything you have to say is speculation. What good is served by whipping people into a racial frenzy?
Let the police do their job.
zimmerman got out of his vehicle after being told to leave the person who was walking slowly / suspiciously alone. He, zimmerman, said something like those a******s alwways get away with it. He then chases the boy who ends up getting the better of the attack and then zimmerman pulls a gun and shoots the child. Murder pure and simple.
How does a 28 year old man feel threatened by an unarmed 17 year old? George Zimmerman you’re a punk. You deserve life in prison. I thought when I first read this story zimmerman was an old man, but 28? If you can’t defend yourself against a 17 year old then you need some more training before you carry a gun around.
Police do there job? That’s the point is they haven’t done their job by not arresting a man who killed a 17 year old kid. If he had sexually abused the kid he would be arrested, but killing the kid, well maybe not, what is this some kind of wild west law in florida? I will never go to florida if this is the best their brightest and smartest lawyers and so called leaders can do to protect the public. Who runs your state, catholic priests?
If Zimmerman is a “neighborhood watch captain” then we need fewer of them!! He belongs in Jail not out shooting youngsters!!!
To duker61,
We want a thorough investigation but are afraid they won’t give one. After all…from the first investigation they said it was self defense….really? They released a killer onto the community. I’m guessing you don’t have kids. This was a 17 year old kid with no weapons…a bag of Skittles and an Iced Tea. When the shoe is on the other foot you demand justice. It’s no different for us. It’s unfortunate that you can’t see the handwriting on the wall. You don’t understand where we are coming from? History books and news reports show numerous cases of injustice and coverup. We had to endure these injustices at the hands of people like Zimmerman and the people that try to cover-up the truth. Why would Zimmerman disreguard the dispatchers orders for him to stay in his car? He wanted a confrontation and went looking for trouble. Do you really believe there was no cover up to protect Zimmerman? Why would a police officer try to change a witness’ statement? Zimmerman was over 200 lbs and Tayvon was 140 lbs…hardly a threat. The former police chief’s son beat up a homeless black man and was first not charged with the crime. He was later charged and got a slap on the hand for his crime. I don’t call that justice. That police department has a history of problems in race relations. It’s not rocket science, in my opinion a hate crime has been commited. Justice for Tayvon…NOW!
I agree w/Duker61 AND TC. We want justice, we want him locked up in jail. But we also want as thorough an “investigation” as a racially biased police department can conduct so that it can be handed over to the State Attorney’s Office & prayerfully investigated properly & fairly so that we can have a conviction that is proven & the proper consequences meted out.
I sympathize with the Martin family deeply. I have two son’s who depend on me not only to nurture & raise them w/principles & morals. But they MUST also be taught how to live in a world of hatred, racism, jealousy, strife, sickness, poverty, & those that would set to oppress them because of the extra melatonin in their skin.
So, although this is an unnecessary & vile crime against one of our precious young black men, let’s look @ this entire situation with a clear vision & mind so that there aren’t any errors or loopholes for this man to slither through.
Also, I’d like to add, we all want to get angry & worked up over this nationalized travesty (& in no way am I about to minimize Trayvon’s death), but what about the thousands of young black men who are murdered or are murdering one another each year? Why aren’t we as worked up & ready to march, patrol, teach, discipline, role-model, uplift, encourage, & support those who may follow where their footprints lead? If we stand together & stand firm as our many ancestors have done & begin actively protecting & parenting our angels, we might have the chance to improve, stop, & empower them to become future leaders such as our President Barak Obama. We might be able to stave off the stench of racism & oppression with success, humility, Godliness, Confidence, & the means to have positions to help one another.
President Obama & First Lady Michelle were @ a restaurant when the owner recognized the 1st Lady. He greeted her & she explained to President Obama that the owner had a crush on her in high school. President Obama remarks, just think if you had married him, you’d own half of this restaurant. First Lady Michelle responded n, if I had married him, he would be president of the United States.
Wouldn’t it be grand if we all had her confidence, her support, her humility & grace? And to have President Obama’s appreciation, sense of humor, pride, & the confidence of knowing someone who loves you is so strong & supportive?
This is what we need to be for our youth, so that they too can be somebody worth saluting & not having to earn respect because their character & principle silently command it.
@missunderstood82: Well spoken…well spoken. I agree.
My heart,thoughts and prayers go out to the family. This is truly truly sad.The shooter should be jailed period! I sincerely wish the best for the family and justice will prevail!!!! And may god have mercy on the shooters soul!
I simply did not know that I could call 911 and report someone looking suspucious, and than I confront that person and shoot them. Kill them and scream “Self-defense”. Hmmm
This community has be embarassed to have a police department that promotes this type of crimes.
Agree that he should be arrested. There is something seriously wrong with these cops and anybody else who can justify murder. There’s a petition going now so if you all really want to do something, please sign it. The more signatures, the more pressure that somebody won’t try to sweep this one under the rug.
http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-17-year-old-trayvon-martin
There are no words to express the anguish I have for the crime that George Zimmerman committed under the guise of “neighborhood watch”. What a horrble joke. You assumed that this young man was a “trouble-maker”. So you chased him down like you were hunting a wild animal, and killed him. You cowardly said you did all of this in self defense. You have shown no remorse and have chosen to hide like the coward you are. Justice will be done because many people are praying. And prayer is a powerful thing. I promise you justice will come.
You know, this guy made an assessment based on what this kid looked like. Tall black dude in a hoodie acting strange like he was on drugs looking at houses. Of course, this can be explained. He was having an animated conversation with a chick on his bluetooth which was in his ear. He was in an unfamiliar neighborhood in the dark looking at house numbers more than likely to make sure he found his father’s fiancee’s house. So from the video I saw of Zimmerman, I’m making an assessment. The guy looks like damn punk. He’s an arrogant punk. And if I were being followed by someone who looked like that, I’d punch them in the face and ask questions later. He looks like the kinda guy who would stick a kinfe in your back. Who would want someone like that following them?