Shooting of Trayvon Martin

OK Ya'll. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Something really bothered me today so I thought I'd share some of it with you.

I saw a video that popped up on my Facebook news feed by an artist called Rukus. It's a song titled "I Think I'm Trayvon". After hearing about this almost constantly for a couple of weeks now, I thought I'd enlighten the world on the facts as well as my view of the shooting.

First, a little background on the neighborhood where it happened.

The neighborhood where George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin is a 260 unit gated town-home community. according to the latest census, the population of this community is 49% White, 23% Hispanic, 20% Black, and 5% Asian (I cannot for the life of me figure out what the missing percentage is, sorry). Now, from January 1, 2011 to the day of the shooting on February 26, 2012, the police were called to the neighborhood 402 times. In the same time there were 8 burglaries, 9 thefts, 1 shooting, and "dozens" of reported attempted break-ins. In response to the high amount of crime in the recent year, the residents created a neighborhood watch effective as of September 2011 with George Zimmerman as the Coordinator.

Now a little background on the people involved:

George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman, 28 at the time of the shooting, is a mixed race hispanic gentlemen who is (as previously stated) the Coordinator of the neighborhood watch. He was raised as a Catholic by his parents in his home state of Virginia. He worked at the time as an insurance underwriter and was in his final semester of an associates degree in Criminal Justice at Seminole State College. He participated in a citizens forum at Sanford City Hall to protest the beating of a black homeless man by the son of a white Sanford Police Officer in early 2011 where he called the officers behavior "disgusting" and described them as lazy. He does have a small record with the law to include assault on an officer at age 21 while a friend was being questioned for underage drinking and a restraining order from an ex-fiance for domestic violence. When this was brought up in court, it was labeled as "run of the mill" offenses and was not considered as proof that he was violent in any way. In November of 2009, Zimmerman got his carry permit as personal protection from a stray pitbull in the neighborhood that was vicious and had previously cornered his wife. During the 18 months prior to the shooting, he had called the police non-emergency line 7 times to report a suspicious person. Not once did he give the persons race prior to being prompted for it by the dispatcher.

Trayvon Martin

Trayvon was a 17 year old black man who was temporarily staying with his father's fiance in the neighborhood where he was shot. His parents had divorced in 1999. His English teacher described him as an A/B student who majored in cheerfulness. Although he had no criminal record, he had been suspended 3 times and was currently suspended at the time of the shooting. The first one for tardiness/truancy, the second for graffiti (Painted "W.T.F." on a door in a restricted area of the school), and the third for having a marijuana pipe and a bag with marijuana residue in it. During his second suspension, police searched him trying to find paint markers and found a screwdriver and women's jewelry which he claimed was given to him by a friend. On the night of the shooting, he was out late at night in the dark while it was raining suspiciously looking at the houses in the neighborhood.

The Shooting

At approximately 7:09 PM EST George Zimmerman called the police non-emergency line and reported a suspicious male walking around looking at houses in the rain. He made the call from his car but when the suspect began running, he got out of the car and followed him. Immediately after the call ended, an altercation happened between Zimmerman and the man (Trayvon Martin). Witnesses say that Zimmerman was on the bottom of a fight taking "MMA Style" punches and screaming for help. While one person was on the phone with the police on a 911 call, a gunshot went off. At 7:17 PM EST Officers arrive on the scene and see Trayvon lying facedown in the grass and Zimmerman standing near by. Zimmerman told the police that he had shot Trayvon once with his 9 mm handgun and was cooperative when he was handcuffed and disarmed. He was treated for his injuries which included a bloody nose and bleeding from the back of his head, after which he was taken back to the police station and questioned for 5 hours. Police officers released Zimmerman saying that the evidence was insufficient to arrest him and that it led to the fact that he was acting in self defense.

Issues I have with this shooting.

1. The police officers said he was innocent and acted in self defense
2. He followed the correct procedure as a member of the neighborhood watch in dealing with a suspicious person(s)
3. He obviously lost the fist fight seeing as he had a bloody (and more than likely broken) nose and a bashed up head while the only mark on Trayvon was a beat up knuckle
4. The cry about this is "racism" while Zimmerman is a mixed race Hispanic gentleman
5. This is a local matter and has been blown out of proportion by the media during a time where the nation was looking at a national weapons ban and has contiued cries of racism

This seems to me like a clear cut case of self defense. Zimmerman was acting well within his rights as a member of the neighborhood watch. He saw a suspicious man walking around in a hoodie with the hood up in the rain looking at houses in the middle of the night. Sounds pretty suspicious to me. He had a weapon on him that is a run of the mill self defense weapon and was carrying it within his legal grounds under the second amendment and the laws of the state of Florida. He lost the fight seeing that his nose was probably broken and the back of his head had obviously been bashed against the ground a few too many times so seeing that his life was in jeopardy, he used lethal force. The local police that conducted the investigation did not intend to further pursue Zimmerman and the only reason anything further than that night was pursued was because of the family accusing the police and others of wrong doing. I guess if you whine loud enough and long enough you can get anything done in this country now can't you? It should never have gone beyond that night and it definitely shouldn't be something I'm writing a blog about. It's not that big of a deal to America. People get shot every day in this country. White guys shoot Black guys, Black guys shoot White guys. It's not racist. It's just criminal. 

Now here's the link to the video from Rukus, got a few things to say about that too...

Rukus - I Think I'm Trayvon

Rukus, please read the entire blog. Refer to the last paragraph, specifically the last few sentences. Trayvon Martin didn't exactly have the best background and was implied as a burglar and thief during his second suspension from school. Have you ever burglarized or stolen? Is that why you think you're Trayvon? 

A light skinned kid from Chicago eh? I'm one of those light skinned kids from chicago. Are you saying that if a black guy from Gary, Indiana (very close to where I live) shoots me down in the street, that it wouldn't be a big deal? Is it only a big deal if a mixed race Hispanic man (not a white guy) shoots a black kid that is suspended from school for the third time, who was acting suspiciously, and attacked and beat the living crap out of him?

Now as for President Obama being Trayvon, I find that disrepectful good sir. I am not the president's biggest supporter by any means, I however would not compare him to Trayvon Martin. The only thing that they have in common is race. The Honorable Mr. Obama is not a burglar or a thief. He does not walk around suspiciously at night in the rain wearing a hoodie with his face hidden. I think you should really think about what you say before you say it.

The rest of the song is just racist talk but there is one more thing I'd like to point out. White boy named billy with blonde hair and blue eyes. I guess all of us white guys are representative of Hitler the the Third Reich right? I guess that we are all just racist bigot pigs aren't we? You say in the description to the song 

"I don't think the justice system is "broken" persay...I think we as people and our values are. Until we accept that we have a problem, that we are not raised "fair", but have to be educated to be fair...nothing will change. I know alot of people forget these things after a few days. I don't. I know it could be me, or my brother, or my future son. Its frightening, heartbreaking, and frustrating."

and I would agree with that. However, I don't think that it's "the man keepin a brotha down". You yourself could use some educating sir. Black men and women have been given a lot of opportunities that white men and women haven't got. Can I get a scholarship to college for being white? No. But if I were black I could. There have to be a certain amount of non white people in just about everything now. If the white guy is more fit for the job or had better grades and did more athletics in high school, then why should he not get the spot? Because they have to have so many non white people there. Things in the real world are as fair as they get. If anything, it's not good to be white anymore. Look at our society. It's cool to be ghetto. It really is. How many people do you see in the hood wearing cowboy hats and how many do you see with their pants at their knees, air jordans. baggy tshirt, flat bill hat cocked sideways? Now which do you see portrayed in the media? It's cool to be ghetto, It's cool to get things for free from the government and not work and earn it, It's cool to be a waste.


Now I am not racist. I have a pretty equal racial divide among my group of friends. I hate the fact that I feel persecuted just because I'm white. Is it payback for slavery hundreds of years ago? I don't know about you guys, but my momma always taught me that two wrongs don't make a right. Is it because if you cry and whine enough you don't have to work for it? That's laziness. That's not the American Dream. The Dream is coming to America where you can be treated equally and have to work harder than the guy next to you to get the nicer car or phone or house. A place where you earn a living and a job that provides you things like healthcare benefits (notice they're called benefits not rights). This country is turning into a bunch of people (no offense) like Rukus who cry racism or whine because you're not being treated "equally" when in reality you are. Get over it folks. This is getting ridiculous.


That's all for now. Sorry for the bit of ranting but I'm really just gettin tired. Leave me a comment or send me an email to jkwgup@gmail.com!