What happened? On February 26, 2012, a man name George Zimmerman called in a “suspicious person sighting” at 7:11 PM. After that, accounts of what happened vary. George chose to follow this “suspicious person,” armed with a handgun, and, minutes later, Trayvon Martin was shot dead and George sustained substantial injuries. These injuries were diagnosed as:
A closed fracture of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head, and a back injury. George claims that these injuries were obtained from a fight with Trayvon.
What do Trayvon’s Family and supporters Claim? Trayvon’s family claims that Trayvon was walking back from a convenience store where he had purchased some candy before the incedent. At the time, Trayvon’s girlfriend (called by the chosen name of Dee-Dee for her protection) was talking on the phone with him. At 7:11 PM, George, in his truck, spotted Trayvon. At 7:12, Dee-Dee called Trayvon back. According to her, Trayvon said “I think this guy is following me!” Dee-Dee says she told him to Run, and claims he did just that. They met on a dark, paved road that runs between the backs of two rows of town houses. Dee-Dee says that she heard an exchange of questions, such as “who are you and what are you doing here,” and, “why are you following me? Once again according to Dee-Dee, there was a scuffle on the other end of the line until it went dead at 7:16 PM.
according to GlobalGrind.com
On the rainy evening of February 26th, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman inside his own gated Sanford, Florida community where he was living with his father, stepmother and little brother.
It’s reported that Trayvon left his house with a hoodie on to grab some snacks (an iced-tea and Skittles) at a local corner store. After leaving the store to return home, he was followed by Zimmerman, a volunteer watch captain who thought that the 17-year-old looked suspicious and threatening. He called 911 to alert them of his suspicions and asked if he thought he should follow the boy, the police said no.
Despite the demands of law enforcement, Zimmerman proceeded to follow Martin in his car and then left his vehicle to approach him. No one is sure of exactly what happened after that moment, except for the fact that there was an altercation and Trayvon was shot and killed. A month later, Zimmerman has yet to be arrested!
Trayvon Martin was minding his own business and was unjustly profiled and attacked – all because of the color of his skin. Justice needs to be served!
What does George Zimmerman claim? George claims that he followed Trayvon because he deemed him a “suspicious” person and wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to do anything harmful to the community. After questioning Trayvon George attempted to return to his SUV but was attacked from behind. He says Trayvon hit him in the nose, then straddled him and began banging George’s, head against the cement again and again.
What evidence supports the Martin family claim? Evidence that supports Trayvon’s Family’s story is mostly from witnesses, whose stories contradict each others.
Selma Mora Lamilla heard no fighting, only what she says was the wail of a child and the distinct crack of gunfire that silenced it. She ran outside her back porch, where she said she saw Zimmerman standing above Trayvon, apparently holding him down.
“I asked him, ‘What’s happening here? What’s going on?’ ” Mora said. “The third time, I was indignant, and he said, ‘Just call the police.’ Then I saw him with his hands over his head in the universal sign of: ‘Oh, man, I messed up.’ “
Another unidentified man told CNN that he saw a larger man on top and a boy underneath. There wasn’t much movement, he said.
A person identified as Witness 3 offered investigators another account on March 19. “I just saw this white shirt on top,” the person said. “I tried to stay away. I was scared.”
(Trayvon was wearing a light colored top at the time of the incident.)
Is there any HARD evidence from this story? One of only two pieces of indisputable evidence supporting this story is a security videoshowing Trayvon purchasing the said items at 7/11 moments before the incident. The other piece is a T-Mobile phone log showing that Trayvon was talking to his girlfriend at the time of the incident, though what was truly said is impossible to know.
The claim that this was a racially motivated hate crime is one of the hardest to uphold, for a number of reasons. George Zimmerman has always wanted to be a Police Officer, and he was a member of the neighborhood watch that was formed to combat a string of burglaries in the neighborhood-likely committed by young black men in hoodies. According to neighbors willing to testify in court, George was a very dedicated neighborhood watch captain who “solved crime in his community,” and had a degree in criminal justice. These facts make it likely that George, wanting to be a hero, made the bad decision to follow Trayvon out of hopes of saving the day, not racial prejudice. The second and likely most telling piece of evidence against the “racial hate crime claim” is that, quite simply, George Zimmerman isn’t all white. He’s actually hispanic..
What evidence is there to support Zimmerman’s story? There is more hard evidence to support this claim than the Martin claim, though still not enough to know for sure. There are also a number of witness statements that directly contradict other stories.
A witness to the confrontation just prior to the shooting stated that Martin was on top of Zimmerman and punching him, while Zimmerman was yelling for help. This witness, who identified himself as “John”, stated that “the guy on the bottom, who had a red sweater on, was yelling to me, ‘Help! Help!’ and I told him to stop, and I was calling 911”. He went on to say that when he got upstairs and looked down, “the guy who was on the top beating up the other guy, was the one laying in the grass, and I believe he was dead at that point.”
(George was wearing a red top at the time.)
One eye witness statement given the night of the shooting describes “a black male, wearing a dark colored ‘hoodie’ on top of a white or Hispanic male who was yelling for help.” The witness said the black male was throwing punches “MMA style.” After hearing a “pop,” he saw the black male “laid out on the grass.” When the witness was subsequently interviewed weeks later by a different agency, the witness said he thought the black male was either punching or pinning the lighter skinned male underneath him. He was no longer certain who was calling for help, having not seen their mouths in the dark. He was still certain that the black male had been on top of the lighter-skinned male.
Is there any hard evidence? There are few pieces of evidence to support this story. The injuries he sustained, noted at the front of the article, speak of a violent bodily confrontation of which he got the worst.
Zimmerman told police he was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from behind, punched Zimmerman in the nose, then climbed on top of Zimmerman and “slammed his head into the sidewalk, leaving him bloody and battered.
This matches his broken nose and head and back injuries, and while prosecutors argue Zimmerman could easily have tailored his story to match his injuries, it is not possible Zimmerman inflicted those injuries to himself between the time of the shooting and when the police show up.
Other evidence that supports George is the neighborhood watch captain job he upheld diligently. It was stated by Cynthia Wibka, secretary of the homeowner’s association, that,
He [Zimmerman] solved crime in the area as captain. “He once caught a thief, and an arrest was made.” She added that he helped solve “a lot of crimes.”
More about Zimmerman the neighborhood watch captian in the above post.
Will we ever know?/strong>
We probably will never know for sure. There is only one man alive who knows absolutely well what happened, and that is George Zimmerman. The best we can do is follow the law and hope the truth emerges.
There Is No Such Thing As a Free Lunch 