Shooting of Trayvon Martin (2012)

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Trayvon Martin (1995-2012)

On the night of February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American high school student, in Sanford, Florida, USA. Zimmerman, a 28-year-old mixed-race man, was a neighbourhood watch coordinator for his gated community, where Martin visited his relatives at the time of the shooting. During a violent altercation between the two, Zimmerman shot Martin, who was unarmed. Zimmerman, who had been stabbed during the encounter, pleaded self-defence in the altercation. [1]

Background

Trayvon Benjamin Martin, born 5 February 1995, was an African-American high school student living in Miami Gardens, Florida, with his mother, Sybrina Fulton. In February 2012, Martin visited his father, Tracy Martin, in Sanford, Florida, after receiving a ten-day suspension from Krop Senior High School. The suspension resulted from the finding of drug residue in Martin's book bag.

George Michael Zimmerman, born October 5, 1983, was a part-time undergraduate at Seminole State College and a neighbourhood watch captain at the Twin Lakes gated community in Sanford, Florida, at the time of the shooting. [2]

Racial Bias in Policing

Martin returned from a convenience store when he was observed by Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch volunteer with German and Peruvian ancestry. Zimmerman called the non-emergency line of the Sanford Police Department, said there had been burglaries in the area, and told the dispatcher that he had seen "a real suspicious man" who was "walking around, looking around." Zimmerman also identified Martin as "no good at all, or a drug or something."

The dispatcher advised Zimmerman that the police did not need him to track Martin, but Zimmerman left his car anyway. Later, he said that he had done so in order to locate his [Martin’s] place after taking a closer glance at the street sign. A violent altercation occurred, and Zimmerman shot his pistol at Martin in close range, causing Martin to die.

When the police arrived, Zimmerman claimed that Martin, who was unarmed, had been attacking him and he shot in self-defence. Concluding that Zimmerman should not be held—since no proof disputed his account of the case, and that state statute authorized the use of lethal force in self-defence, the police released him.

Zimmerman's trial, which began in June 2013, generated intensive media attention. The prosecutor claimed that Martin's death stemmed from Zimmerman profiling him as a suspect racially and attempting to take the law into his own hands. The prosecution argued that the evidence corroborated Zimmerman's account of the event—namely, that he shot his pistol because Martin was threatening him, and that he thought his life was endangered. However, the core aspects of the event could not be ascertained. For example, witnesses differed about which of the two men was heard crying for assistance on a reported call to emergency services. [3]

Trayvon Martin case exemplifies how racial profiling and black male stigma help perpetuate social inequality and injustice for black men. A racism-centred perspective historically and contemporarily, from this case, can be used a theoretical approach to understanding the role that race plays in social injustice through racial profiling. [4]

Reference

  1. Shooting of Trayvon Martin. en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved on Feb 3, 2021.
  2. CNN Editorial Research. Trayvon Martin Shooting Fast Facts. October 19, 2020. edition.cnn.com. Retrieved on Feb 3, 2021.
  3. Munro, André. Shooting of Trayvon Martin. June 29, 2015. britannica.com. Retrieved on Feb 3, 2021.
  4. Teasley, Martell Lee; Schiele, Jerome H; Adams, Charles; Okilwa,Nathern S. Trayvon Martin: Racial Profiling, Black Male Stigma, and Social Work Practice. November 9, 2017. academic.oup.com. Retrieved on Feb 3, 2021.