Shooting of Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was an African American teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a multiracial Hispanic man, in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman described the shooting as self-defense. In the context of the racial tensions of the United States, the circumstances around his death caused a national outrage; an investigation was requested by civil rights leaders such as Al Sharpton.

Shooting
According to his family, during the halftime break in an NBA basketball game on TV, Trayvon left his father's girlfriend's home in a gated community in Sanford, Florida to walk to a nearby convenience store to buy some candy. While returning, Trayvon was seen by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman, who called 911, stating, "This guy looks like he is up to no good. He is on drugs or something." He further stated that he had his hand in his waistband and was walking around slowly in the rain looking at houses. The police dispatcher recommended that Zimmerman not take any action, and informed him that police were on the way. Zimmerman reported that Martin had taken off. The officer asked him if he was in pursuit and Zimmerman affirmed that he was. The officer informed him that pursuit was not necessary.

The released 9-1-1 phone call between Zimmerman and a police officer also recorded Zimmerman allegedly stating "fucking coons", an ethnic slur used against black people, though the text is muffled and has not been officially confirmed. Other reported interpretations suggested for the muffled speech include "clueless", "course", or "punks".

Before the shooting, Trayvon was reportedly speaking on a cellphone with a friend at the time of the encounter and expressed concern about a "strange man" following him. The friend's parents requested that her identity be kept anonymous and was interviewed by an attorney. She stated that she advised Trayvon to run, and that she believed he had been knocked down because his headset had gone silent. She attempted to call him back immediately, but was unable to reach him. By the time the police arrived Martin was dead with a gunshot wound in the chest. Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and the back of the head and had wet grass stains on his red jacket. Zimmerman claimed self-defense. Zimmerman told police he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck. He said he fired the semiautomatic handgun because he feared for his life. One witness said he came upon the scene and saw Zimmerman on his back on the ground, which accords with statements by the police that he was covered in grass and blood. Another witness has said in a TV interview that "there was no punching, no hitting going on at the time, no wrestling", but police say that that witness gave an official account to them that agreed with Zimmerman's story. The only things in Trayvon's pockets were a package of Skittles for his little brother and a can of Arizona brand iced tea.

Facts About the Case

 * Martin had no criminal record.

"Trayvon had no criminal record. He was suspended from his Miami high school for 10 days in February, which is the reason he was visiting his father. The family said the suspension was not for violent or criminal behavior but for a violation of school policy."


 * Zimmerman “was charged in July 2005 with resisting arrest with violence and battery on an officer. The charges appear to have been dropped.”

" Police in Sanford, where the shooting occurred, told Martin’s family that Zimmerman had a “squeaky-clean” record and that’s why they had not arrested him, according to Tracy Martin, the teen’s father.Crump said public records show that Zimmerman was arrested in Orange County in 2005 on charges of resisting arrest with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer.“They just lied to the family,” Crump said. “They just couldn’t see why [Zimmerman] would do anything wrong or be violent. But not only do you know the guy killed this kid, because he admitted to it, you knew that he has a propensity for violence because of his past record.”"


 * Zimmerman called the police 46 times since Jan. 1, 2011.

"Zimmerman called police 46 times since Jan. 1, 2011 to report disturbances, break-ins, windows left open and other incidents. Nine of those times, he saw someone or something suspicious.“Hey, we’ve had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there’s a real suspicious guy at Retreat View Circle. This guy looks like he’s up to no good,” Zimmerman told a dispatcher on Feb. 26, the night of Trayvon’s death."


 * Zimmerman called the police to report Martin’s “suspicious” behavior, which he described as “just walking around looking about.” “There’s a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like he’s up to no good, on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around looking about… These a**holes always get away”


 * Prior to the release of the 911 tapes, Zimmerman’s father released a statement claiming “[a]t no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin.”

Aftermath
Zimmerman has not been charged with any crime, under the right of self defense. Recordings of a number of 911 calls made the night of the shooting were released by the city of Sanford on March 17, 2012. Early press reports indicated that the recordings included the sound of a single shot followed by a voice pleading or begging for help, and then a second shot is heard, after which the voice immediately stopped. Later reports indicate that gun was fired only once. Zimmerman told police at the scene that he was the one crying out for help. Other witnesses have stated that Trayvon was the one calling for help, and that the police tried to "correct" them into changing their assertion to Zimmerman as the one calling for help.

That night, Sanford police accepted Zimmerman's account at face value and did not test him for drugs or alcohol, although such tests are standard procedure in most homicide investigations. Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee has said he does not have enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman. "In this case Mr. Zimmerman has made the statement of self-defense," Lee said. "Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don't have the grounds to arrest him."

"We are taking a beating over this," said Lee, who defends the investigation. "This is all very unsettling. I’m sure if George Zimmerman had the opportunity to relive Sunday, Feb. 26, he’d probably do things differently. I’m sure Trayvon would, too." "The hysteria, the media circus, it's just crazy," he continued. "It's the craziest damn thing I've ever seen. I know in my heart we did a good job."

Multiple police investigations are ongoing. The FBI and the Justice Department have opened investigations into the incident. Florida Governor Rick Scott has also asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the shooting. A Seminole County grand jury will also investigate the Trayvon Martin case.

History of alleged racist actions by Sanford police
The police department of the city of Sanford has been in the news due to racial tensions before. The police chief in 2011, Brian Tooley, was forced from office after the son of a lieutenant was caught on camera beating up an unsuspecting homeless black man, but whom the department declined to prosecute. After the footage went viral on YouTube, the perpetrator, Justin Collison, was arrested. The officer in charge of that case was also the one in charge of the Trayvon Martin shooting scene.

In 2005, two parking lot security guards, one the son of a Sanford police department veteran and the other a volunteer for the department, shot a black teen, Travares McGill, in the back, killing him. They claimed self-defense, and the case was dismissed in court.