There has been much publicity surrounding the shooting death of Trayvon Martin; an unarmed 17-year-old Florida youth shot to death by a neighborhood watch patrolman. On March 19, 2012, The Miami Herald published an editorial that further fueled the flames of racial discrimination and depicted the law enforcement authorities that handled the situation as incompetent. This editorial leads off with, "Law enforcement authorities in the Seminole County community of Sanford have a lot of explaining to do...", follows with, "police Chief Bill Lee vows to follow the evidence, but his department's words and actions up to now only serve to raise more doubts about the investigation" (Miami Herald editorial).
The main problem with this editorial is the racial overtone it elicits. "The victim was black; the shooter is not (Miami Herald editorial)." The tension and the outcries not only in the community, the state, and even national news are becoming more heated daily. All of this does not benefit the pursuit of the truth in this tragic story. Painting this strictly as black versus white, and then suggesting the police department was impartial will only further divide this community and possibly lead to more unrest between the races. There are many unanswered questions, but depicting this solely on an ethnic card does no justice in answering them.
At the center, of the controversy surrounding the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is a Florida law that changed America's definition of self-defense. Florida has a "stand your
Miars 2
ground" law that allows residents to use deadly force to protect themselves no matter where they are. This event is proof that this law goes too far, but yet in this article it is not ment...
... middle of paper ...
...ommunity on bringing a change to the law. Presently, they are dividing the community by race. The bigotry and prejudices have no place in this debate. Abolishing this law is the place to start.
Miars 4
Works Cited
Yamiche Alcindor, Marisol Bello and Kevin Johnson. "Florida case reignites debate over stand-
your-ground laws." USA Today. 21 March 2012. Web. 22 March 2012.
Curtis, Henry Pierson. "Stand Your Ground Law: What's Legal." Orlando Sentinel. 17 March
2012. Web. 22 March 2012.
Miami Herald Editorial. "Dead teen's family deserves answers." The Miami Herald. 19 March
2012. Web. 21 March 2012.
Pearson, Michael. "Florida shooting renews debate over 'stand your ground' laws." CNN. 21
March 2012. Web. 21 March 2012.
Schultz, Randy. "Review 'castle doctrine' law." The Palm Beach Post. 21 March 2012. Web.
21 March 2012.
Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. He says that it was self defense, but after the tragic phone call was released to the media everything took a huge turn questioning if it was a hate crime. If Zimmerman would have stayed in his car that night then Trayvon would still be alive. It could not be self-defense if all Travon had in his hand were skittles and some tea. The whole thing blew up right after it was released to the news. Then when it was time for the trial it was live on television. During the trial and after the verdict is when the social media started to go crazy.
The case involved a neighborhood watchman, who happened to be on duty when he saw a young black man wearing a sweater jacket called a “hoodie”, walking through the neighborhood. George Zimmerman, the watchman, who was twenty-eight years old at the time, called authorities about a suspicious character walking around in his neighborhood. The authorities told him not to do anything; just continue with his rounds and not worry. Zimmerman, however, decided he would take matters into his own hands. He confronted the young man; they got into a brawl and Zimmerman pulled out a gun and shot and killed Martin. That premise will play a role in this paper as an argument as to why George Zimmerman should have been convicted of committing a crime. Even if the jury could not have reasons to convict him of the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin; they had other choices.
Individuals’ right to keep and bear arms in self-defense should be further restricted. For example, George Zimmermann – neighborhood watch citizen responsible for the teenager Treyvon Martin’s death
Zimmerman was asked by a dispatcher to stop pursuing Treyvon Martin. The “Stand Your Ground”
The article, Racial Conflict, written by Peter Katel in January 8, 2016, is about racism in the United State and to discuss if U.S. policies are discriminatory. Propelled largely by videos of violent police confrontations with African- Americans, protesters have taken to the streets in Chicago, New York and other cities demanding changes in police tactics. These brutal policing tactics had lead persons to say that U.S. policies are discriminatory. For example, Chicago police officer shot 17-year-old Laquan Mc Donald 16 times in the street. Official kept the video away from the public until a reporter forced its release through freedom of information request. Keeping the video under wrap prove that Mc Donald was killed innocently which also
This bill is all about self defense. And self defense is something everyone should have the right to. But research has shown since this bill has been enacted justifiable murders in Florida is 3 times as much as before then. People should have the right to defend
Today there are many controversial subjects discussed throughout the media. One of the most discussed is race and the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across an article titled “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’”, written by The Editorial Board. The article was published on September 3, 2015, to the New York Times. In the article, The Editorial Board writes about what they believe African Americans are facing as challenges in society today, including the all-too-common police killings of unarmed African-Americans across the country. The Editorial Board is right that some African Americans have been treated unfairly, but all ethnicities have been. Life is a precious thing that comprises all ethnicities. This brings us to ask; why
The “Stand Your Ground” law was first adopted in the state of florida in 2005. This law did not gain national attention until the shooting death of unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Sanford, florida, where the shooter, George Zimmerman used the “Stand Your Ground” law as his basis for defending himself against Trayvon Martin to the Sanford Police Department. However, George Zimmerman’s legal defense team did not utilize the law to argue his innocence during his trial. But the damage had been done because soon after other cases in florida began to sprout up with “Stand Your Ground” as the driving force.
That evening, he walked out to the nearby 7-Eleven to get some Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea. As he walked back home to his father’s house, he caught the attention of George Zimmerman, who was patrolling the neighborhood and called 911 to report "a real suspicious guy." This guy looks like he 's up to no good or he 's on drugs or something," Zimmerman said to the police dispatcher. After discussing his location with the dispatcher, Zimmerman exclaimed, yelled and there were following sounds suggesting he left his vehicle to run after Martin. "Are you following him?" the dispatcher asked and after Zimmerman answered “yep” the dispatcher told him not to follow Trayvon. Minutes later there were calls about the two fighting and sounds of tussling, then Trayvon lay dead in the grass.
This case is about a 16-year-old kid from Miami named Trayvon Martin. On the night of February 26th, Trayvon walked from his father's house in a gated community to a nearby store. When walking back, he was spotted by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer. There have been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood over the last few weeks and Zimmerman thought that a young black man walking in the rain and wearing a hooded sweatshirt looked suspicious. Zimmerman then called 911 to report the person who "might be on drugs."
One of these major incidents occurred in the past few years was the Sandy Hook School Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. 20 year old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 kids and six adults school faculty members and ultimately committed suicide by shooting himself (Flegenheimer, 2013). Another shooting occurred in a Colorado movie theater, where James Holmes shot 70 people that led to 12 deaths in July 2012 (CNN Library, July 2014). On February 26, 2012 an incident occurred between a Floridian resident and neighborhood watch coordinator, George Zimmerman, who reportedly shot and killed a sixteen year old boy, Trayvon Martin in self- defense (CNN Library, February 2014). However, many people feel that the shooting was uncalled for because Martin was unarmed and he was walking in the same gated community he was currently living with his father. These stories are just a few that calls to attention the importance of personnel gun restrictions needed in this country. After reviewing these incidents, now the real question is, "Could these incidents and other countless of gun related criminal acts have been avoided if there was just an increase of firearm restrictions
The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri became a controversial media sensation. The shooting created uproar and mistrust towards police officers. Many believed the shooting was unjustified and even an act of racism on the behalf of the police Officer Darren Wilson. The Department of Justice issued an investigation in order to understand the basis of the shooting and to decide whether or not to charge Darren Wilson in the shooting. Despite the evidence and the investigation which portrayed the shooting as an act of self- defense, the shooting still remains controversial.
The most effective way to achieve something in our world also happens to be the most difficult to do. The two most effective methods of achieving something is taking or winning. Taking a stand is the most courageous act a person can do because often times they are going against the common belief of the people around them. All great leaders have one thing in common and that is that they are brave enough to take a stand. Taking a stand is more important and has a bigger effect on the world than winning does.
My first year of junior high, (in our school that was seventh grade) I was not spending all my time trying to be popular like all the other people in my grade. I was just being me how I always had been. One day at I was sitting at the lunch table with a bunch of people I would hang around with sometimes. Some of them were talking about there weekends.
A large problem in America has always been racial issues and still continues to be prevalent in our society today. The United States likes to boast its reputation as a “melting-pot” as many cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds are mixed together, yet the country still continues to isolate individuals based on race. In the constitution, it says that everyone is supposed to have equal rights and liberties, yet after over 200 years, many minorities still struggle to obtain the same respect and equality that their white counterparts have always have. Laws should be created to enforce equality and justice for racial groups.