Letter From The Editor: Trayvon Martin Verdict

by Claude Julian | ARCHIVES

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin and single handedly ignited a national debate on racial profiling and civil rights, was found not guilty late Saturday night of second-degree murder. He was also acquitted of manslaughter, a lesser charge. After three weeks of testimony, the six-woman jury rejected the prosecution’s contention that Mr. Zimmerman had deliberately pursued Mr. Martin because he assumed the hoodie-clad teen was a criminal and instigated the fight that led to his death.

Mr. Zimmerman said he shot Mr. Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in self-defense after the teenager knocked him to the ground, punched him and slammed his head repeatedly against the sidewalk. In finding him not guilty of murder or manslaughter, the jury agreed that Mr. Zimmerman could have been justified in shooting Mr. Martin because he feared great bodily harm or death.  The jury, which had been sequestered since June 24, deliberated 16 hours and 20 minutes over two days. The six female jurors entered the quiet, tense courtroom, several looking exhausted, and their faces drawn and grim. After the verdict was read, each assented, one by one, and quietly, their agreement with the verdict.

The case began in the small city of Sanford as a routine homicide but soon evolved into a civil rights cause examining racial profiling and its consequences — an issue barred from the courtroom — and setting off a broad discussion of race relations in America. Mr. Martin, with his gray hooded sweatshirt and his Skittles — the candy he was carrying — became its catalyst.  Even President Obama weighed in a month after the shooting, expressing sympathy for Mr. Martin’s family and urging a thorough investigation. “If I had a son,” Mr. Obama said, “He’d look like Trayvon.”

The parents of Trayvon Martin felt “shock” and “disgust” when a Florida jury ruled Saturday night that George Zimmerman, 29, was found not guilty in the shooting death of their son.

“I really didn’t believe that he was not guilty,” Sybrina Fulton said today on “Good Morning America.”My first thought was shock, disgust. ”  Zimmerman had been accused of second-degree murder for shooting Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Fla. He said from the beginning that he had shot Martin in self-defense, but many questioned his account of the incident.

“I think people are forgetting that Trayvon was a teenager so he probably thought as a teenager,” Fulton said. “I really do believe he was afraid because he did call George Zimmerman creepy. So he was afraid and if you are 17 years old and you are afraid, you may not know what to do.”

The controversial verdict was met with a wave of public outcry, including protest marches across the country.
“As parents understanding how they reached the verdict, I’ll never grasp that concept,” said Martin’s father, Tracy Martin. “Just as loving parents and God-fearing people, we just continue to pray that whatever was in their heart was what they intended to do. But we didn’t feel it was fair and, of course, it was devastating.”

The outcry intensified two days after the verdict when a literary agency announced it was working with one of the jurors, identified only as juror B-37, on a book about her experiences on the jury. The plans for the book were scrapped later that day. Martin’s parents said today on “GMA” that they wish the members of the jury had gotten a chance to know more about their son during the trial. “I wish they really knew Trayvon for who he was and knew that he was a kid,” Martin said. “They didn’t know him as a human being, a very decent human being, a fun-loving kid. He loved kids.  I just wish they had an opportunity to really know who Trayvon was and to put that in context with what their decision was.”  Zimmerman has gone into hiding since the verdict, but in an interview this week with ABC News, his parents, Gladys and Robert Zimmerman Sr., said that if they had the chance, they would tell Trayvon Martin’s parents they are truly sorry about what happened the night their son fatally shot the 17 year old.

When asked whether he was comforted by the Zimmerman’s’ apology, Martin called it a “hard and fair question.”

“There’s no winner in this situation,” Martin said. “Obviously, we are devastated more.”

“I just think that all the circumstances surrounding books being written and the mischaracterization of us as parents, I just really don’t feel that it’s real sincere,” he said. “But we continue to pray that we’ll find peace and strength to be forgiving parents.” Martin and Fulton have started a foundation named after their son and say they hope his death and the trial can serve as a catalyst to bring the country together.

“I think moving forward we need to educate ourselves as a community on the gun laws, on the laws, on the statutes,” Martin said. “We need to come together more as a whole, not individual people, not individual race, and religion. We need to come together as God’s people.  We need to start learning each other, understanding each other. You can’t just judge a book by its cover,” he said. “Something is wrong in so many ways to say that someone is suspicious just because you don’t know them.” Fulton says the outpouring of support the family has received shows the effect the case has had across the nation. “It’s not just about the Trayvon Martin case,” Fulton said. “Now it’s about your kids. It’s about other kids. What do we tell our sons?”

TRAYVON MARTIN VERDICT GALLERY