Community Safety or Vigilante Justice: You Make the Call

It's time to Break It Down!

(Disclaimer: This post contains language that is graphic in nature, and which may be considered offensive and/or inappropriate for minors; reader discretion is advised).

For many years the acronym DWB has been widely recognized as shorthand for the expression, Driving While Black.  The phrase is a catchall term that encompasses a variety of exploitive actions and practices that law enforcement officials and other authorities foist upon victims, usually black men.  The tawdry tale usually begins with racial profiling, and goes downhill from there, quickly.

The case that has most recently caught the attention of national media, the blogosphere, and the Twitterverse, involves a young man who was walking, not driving.  Trayvon Martin, a 17 year-old, went out to buy iced tea and Skittles during half time of the NBA All-Star Game, and was gunned down by a member of a neighborhood watch group, upon his return to the gated community in Sanford, Florida, where his father lived.  He was less than 50 yards from his father’s home when he was shot and killed.  That fatal Feb. 26 shooting has been steadily gaining attention over the past 3½ weeks.

The case has proved to be controversial, in large measure because of alleged actions and comments by the shooter, 28 year-old George Zimmerman, a number of questionable actions taken by local police and perhaps just as important, a Florida law, known loosely as “Stand Your Ground,” a statute officially entitled:

 776.013 Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.—

In the wake of the tragic shooting, one of the first sources of concern about Mr. Zimmerman’s actions and his motivation comes from his own comments, which were recorded in a 911 call with Sanford Police.  The exchanges in question include Zimmerman saying, among other things:

• “These assholes always get away.”
• “Shit, he’s running (away).”
• “Yes (When asked if he was following the suspect, despite being advised not to by police Martin))”
• “Fucking coons.”

In addition to Zimmerman’s questionable comments, he had logged over three dozen false alarm 911 calls in recent months.  There are over 25,000 registered Neighborhood Watch groups in the country.  Mr. Zimmerman's is not one of them.  It should be noted that Mr. Zimmerman confessed to shooting Martin, but claims he did so in self-defense.  His father, who adds that Zimmerman is half-Hispanic, insists he is not a racist.  I can’t say with confidence whether Mr. Zimmerman is racist, but he certainly demonstrates a predisposition for profanity.

The Sanford Police Department’s handling of the case has been as controversial as any other aspect of the matter.  Steps that have risen to critical inspection include:

·         Withholding 911 tapes

·         Not reaching out to Trayvon’s girlfriend, with whom he was on the phone during the altercation, even though they had the phone logs

·         Calling a narcotics investigator, not a homicide investigator to the scene

·         Not administering drug & alcohol tests on the shooter whom police analysts said sounded intoxicated; but testing Trayvon (who had nothing in his system or on him…and was unarmed)

·         Disregarding accounts of witnesses (The department dismissed the accounts of 7 witnesses which suggested Zimmerman was the aggressor)

·         Failing to investigate the shooters background (Zimmerman had a record; Martin did not)

·         Accepting Zimmerman’s account of self-defense on the spot

Due to these actions and others, the FBI, an agency of the Department of Justice, interceded, and is now investigating this case a hate crime.
 

Florida is one of among approximately 31 states that have enacted “Stand Your Ground," or as they are called in some places, "Make My Day” laws.  These laws employ what is known as the Castle Doctrine, derived from the English Common Law principle that a man's home is his castle.  Florida’s law has been amended in recent years, and includes a clause that may have been used by police to justify not arresting Mr. Zimmerman.  That proviso states:

• 3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

This case is still very much active and unfolding.  As Americans, we fully embrace the notion that individuals are innocent until proved guilty.  That determination is likely still in the balance for Mr. Zimmerman.  However, here’s what I fear…and I really hope I am wrong.  I would hate to think when all is said and done, what went down was scenario like this:

• an overzealous, armed, adult, wannabe lawman, ran down and cornered an innocent and unarmed 17 year-old that he outweighed by more than a hundred pounds. 
• Once he caught and cornered him, a tussle ensued between a frightened kid that Zimmerman had labeled suspicious, and about whom he fretted would get away.
• At that point, Zimmerman, a renegade neighborhood watchman had already flouted a host of rules, including never carry a gun, and never confront a suspect.
• Once embroiled in a scuffle with a child he had run down and cornered, he found himself being tested by youth and fear-stoked adrenalin; in response, he drew his gun andexercised his on brand of vigilanteism, and in doing so, extinguished a life.
• After killing a boy he literally tracked down, but whom he was apparently unable to then subdue, he pled self-defense
• Up to this point Zimmerman has not been arrested; he remains free, protected by a law intended for use by those having been subjected to attack; not aggressors like himself.

Bear in mind, this is not presented as an actual account of the events that ensued in Sanford, Florida that day.  What it is, though, is a scenario that may very well have unfolded given what we know, up to this point.  In the weeks and months to come, I would expect the facts to be unearthed.  Until then, "Community Safety or Vigilante Justice: You Make the Call!"

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://www.wltx.com/news/national/article/180011/142/Feds-to-Investigate-Death-of-Florida-Teen

http://abcnews.go.com/US/traynor-martin-arrest-now-abc-reveals-crucial-phone/story?id=15959017

http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborhood-watch-killing-911-tape-reveals-racial-slur/story?id=15966309

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-20120320,0,1508238.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-trayvon-martin-cell-phone-conversation-20120320,0,6034511.story

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/state-attorney-case-will-be-given-grand-jury-shoot/nLX9c/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/16/trayvon-martin-case-georg_n_1353522.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-20/trayvon-martin-teen-shot-florida/53669448/1

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/911-tapes-george-zimmerman-killing-trayvon-martin-released

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-trayvon-martin-shooting-zimmerman-letter-20120315,0,1716605.story

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0776/Sections/0776.013.html

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/20/10780286-florida-stand-your-ground-law-could-complicate-trayvon-martin-teen-shooting-case

http://necolebitchie.com/2012/03/19/police-recordings-released-in-killing-of-trayvon-martin/