When I was 13, “toilet papering” someone’s house was something you did if you were cool. But I was always scared of getting caught by the neighborhood watch. What could they do to me? Get me in trouble with my parents? Perhaps, but never did I think that I would get shot.
I wish I could say 17-year-old Trayvon Martin held the same expectations. However, last month he was shot and killed by self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.
ABC News reports that an unnamed 16-year-old girl was on the phone with Martin when Zimmerman approached him, and she told Martin’s attorney what she heard on the call.
According to her, the Florida teen was on his way home from a convenience store when he realized that he was being followed. Martin immediately called his girlfriend and told her something wasn’t right about the man following him. While on the phone, she told him to run, when suddenly she heard him say to the man, “Why are you following me?” The last thing she heard was some rustling before the phone disconnected.
When I first heard about this, I knew there had to be something more. After reading about the suspicious event, I found tons of kickers. First of all, Zimmerman is claiming self-defense. Secondly, Zimmerman made a 911 call that has revealed racial slurs toward Martin, making this a possible hate crime. Lastly, the Sanford Police Department ran a less than satisfying investigation on Martin’s death.
There is a list of infractions that the Sanford Police committed with the investigation, perhaps the biggest being that Zimmerman was not given a toxicology or Breathalyzer test upon killing Martin. Seriously, how is that possible? Cops hand those things out left and right at 2 a.m. on the highway. But when a crime this serious happened, they didn’t even question him. What kind of a standard is being held where they make you take a sobriety test for swerving even the slightest amount while driving, but don’t in the case of a potential murder?
The police are also withholding an array of 911 calls, including the one in which Zimmerman makes a racial slur. I don’t know what the police are trying to hide, but this is inexcusable. With all of the negative press they are getting, you would think they’d back down and do everything in their power to prove they did their job. But no such luck. The Sanford Police Department reportedly stands by its investigation, saying it handled this case like any other. So, as of right now, George Zimmerman is a free man facing no charges whatsoever.
I don’t believe that the job was done right. It seems as though older generations hate on the younger generation quite a bit, but take a look at who raised them. It is this kind of thing that breeds more people who think they can commit crimes and get away with them, but ultimately these acts result in hate. Those are not the kind of people I want to be associated with, and people that I wish my country wasn’t associated with either.
