8.2.2014
February 26, 2012 George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Trayvon’s death was a horrible tragedy that could have been avoided.
On that night George Zimmerman was in contact with the police dispatcher at 911, and the dispatcher told him to remain in the car and not follow Martin. Zimmerman not only ignored those instructions but took his gun, followed Martin, and after a confrontation shot and killed a 17-year-old boy. From the moment Zimmerman chose to take a gun and pursue Martin he initiated the circumstances that caused Trayvon’s death. Had Zimmerman stayed in his car and obeyed the instructions of the police dispatcher Trayvon Martin would be alive today.
In considering the events of that night I can put myself in Trayvon Martin’s place. It’s after dark and you are walking alone. You realize someone is following you. You know this is not a police officer, because police officers identify themselves and wear badges. You cannot think of any good reason that a stranger would be following you. Anyone in that position would have to presume that the person following them has bad intentions. This would be a normal action for safety and self-preservation. At this point consider what your options would be. You could call the police, but how long would it take them to get there. The slow police response time to Zimmermans call demonstrates that. So obviously that would not have done any good. You could run away, but you don’t know for how far, for how long or to where. Since this person may be intent on doing harm, you don’t want to go home and lead a possible dangerous criminal to your house and endanger your loved ones. Trayvon Martin did the only thing he knew to do, and perhaps the only thing he could do, he turned and confronted his pursuer.
Since we only have Zimmerman’s version of the story, it is my opinion that we will never know what really happened that night. We will never know what, if anything, was said between Zimmerman and Martin. We will never know who acted aggressively first. We will never know at what point Zimmerman produced his gun, and at what point he killed young Martin. The only thing we know for sure is that if Zimmerman had follow the instructions of the police dispatcher and not pursued Martin, a young man would not have been killed.
We can only speculate as to what actually happened in the brief moments when Martin and Zimmerman were face to face that night. We don’t know who struck the first blow, what was said, what actions were taken that could have appeared threatening, or what point Zimmerman produced his pistol. It would seem that Zimmerman put Martin in a position where he would be naturally on the defensive and expecting Zimmerman to do him harm. By pursuing Martin, Zimmerman provoked this incident and any of the following actions are the result of this pursuit. If someone were following me in the dark I cannot imagine a scenario where I would not be on the defensive and be prepared to defend myself. If I were to confront someone in that situation that was obviously not a police officer and obviously capable of doing harm to me or other people, I doubt that I would believe them if they told me they were with the neighborhood watch. When someone follows you in a situation like that you have to presume, out of self-defense, that they have bad intentions and you cannot believe anything they say. I don’t know whether Zimmerman in any way provoked Martin or acted in a threatening manner, and I do not know whether Martin confronted Zimmerman or simply chose to strike him out of fear. I do know that the only reason you would strike someone in almost any situation in life is out of self-defense and fear for your safety.
One aspect of this tragedy that is often brought up in the media is whether or not Zimmerman’s actions were racially motivated. He claims they were not and has a valid argument, as he was raised in a multi-racial home. My opinion is that Zimmerman would’ve pursued Martin regardless of his skin color. The disturbing part is that in Zimmerman’s mind he thought he had the right to put another persons life in danger to satisfy his own need to play cop or protect the neighborhood he lived in from some imagined danger from Trayvon. I believe that in his disturbed mind he thought he was doing what was right when he pursued Martin. That is another ominous issue, that there are lots of other George Zimmerman’s out there that think the same way. Obviously if Zimmerman had not had a gun he could not have shot Trayvon, but with a mindset that justifies pursuing another person with a deadly weapon he probably would have used a club or a knife or some other type of weapon, and obviously Zimmerman was prepared to use a weapon as he saw necessary.
The worst tragedy of course, is Trayvon Martin’s death. The other tragedy resulting from this incident is that George Zimmerman was not held responsible for his actions.
CNN timeline of Travon Martin shooting
Wikipedia on Trayvon Martin shooting