10 Things You Don’t Know About the Trayvon Martin Case

Ever since mainstream media finally decided that the February 26th shooting death of black teen Trayvon Martin was newsworthy, which was about a month after black activists began raising hell, there has been non-stop coverage of this tragic crime. Because there are massive volumes of information and because those volumes are updated on a nearly weekly and sometimes daily basis, there’s a need to compile all the pertinent facts.

1. George Zimmerman is a goddamn liar. As early as his initial interview on the night he killed Trayvon, Zimmerman repeatedly told Florida law enforcement agents that while he was on the phone with the police dispatcher shortly before the shooting, Trayvon was “circling my vehicle on foot” and that he was so unnerved by Trayvon’s behavior that he “rolled up … (the) window to avoid a confrontation.” But if this is true—and it damn sure ain’t—why didn’t he mention it during the 911 call with that dispatcher? He also told investigators that during the physical confrontation, Trayvon “had his hand over my mouth.” But if this is true—and it damn sure ain’t—how could he, as he has often stated, have been the person crying out for help? In addition, he told investigators that while he and Trayvon were wrestling on the ground, Trayvon “reached for the gun, and we struggled over it.” But if this is true—and it damn sure ain’t—how come there’s no physical, eyewitness, or corroborating evidence that Trayvon ever touched the firearm?

2. Zimmerman had only minor injuries. The medical report claiming “laceration to the back of his head, a closed fracture of his nose, and two black eyes” wasn’t written by the paramedics and wasn’t written immediately after the incident. It was written instead by Zimmerman’s family doctor and was written later. In fact, his reason for seeing that particular physician was “to get legal clearance to return to work.” Although Zimmerman alleges that Trayvon “punched me in the face, climbed on top of me, and slammed my head into the sidewalk,” he refused to go to the hospital when the paramedics arrived. As an attorney, I’m trained to speak and write as technically precise as possible using applicable legal jargon. So here’s my legal treatise: “If you stalk some dude who was minding his own business and you run up on him and get all up in his face and he then kicks your ass by throwing a few punches to get you to back off and those punches land squarely on your nose and in your eyes and on the back of your head, then your injuries don’t mean shit.” That’s Law School 101, yo.

3. Trayvon wasn’t high, but Zimmerman probably was. A report shows that there was marijuana in Trayvon’s system. Big effin’ deal! The last time I checked, the penalty for smoking weed wasn’t the firing squad by a wanna-be cop. If it were, then a lot of lawyers—including prosecutors—and cops and politicians and even judges would be on death row right now. But there is no evidence that Trayvon had actually smoked anything. The medical examiner’s autopsy report merely says “’traces’ of THC … (that are) below the level that … would have caused ‘performance impairment.’” However, the same can’t be said about Zimmerman. Quite the contrary: He had in his system Tamazepam (a.k.a. Restoril) for insomnia and Adderall for hyperactivity disorder. Separately, their side effects include “severe aggression, hostility, hallucinations and delusions.” Together, they include murder.

4. Zimmerman has been a longtime racist. While living in the gated community where he killed the black teen, Zimmerman had called the Sanford Police Department in 2011 on August 4th, August 5th, and October 6th, and in 2012 on February 2nd specifically to report a “suspicious person.” And each time that particular individual was a black male. Furthermore, a former Middle Eastern co-worker testified under oath that Zimmerman constantly used racist taunts to harass him non-stop in early 2008, repeatedly calling him “Ahmed the terrorist” and “a fucking moron” because, in the words of the co-worker who is a person of color, he was an “easy target” for Zimmerman.

5. The state attorney is not our friend and neither is the death penalty. Although Angela Corey sold out by seeking only second-degree (i.e., no premeditation) instead of first-degree (i.e., split-second premeditation) murder, the feds can clean up Florida’s mess if necessary. The good news is that the federal hate crimes law was custom-made for racist thugs like Zimmerman—in other words, for people who kill people because of the color of their skin. The bad news is that federal law allows for the death penalty (or a life sentence). But capital punishment is always wrong—even for racist murderous thugs. After all, aren’t we as a society morally, ethically, and/or spiritually better than murderous monsters?

6. Zimmerman has a lot of support—well, at least from the murderous racists. According to guns.com, which is a major firearms website, a Virginia Beach company called Hiller Armaments is (and/or was) selling a Trayvon target poster. A photo shows it as a “dark hoodie with cross-hairs aimed at the chest, with a bag of Skittles (partially) tucked in the right pocket and a hand holding a can of iced tea.” And the published product description reads: “Everyone knows the story of Zimmerman and Martin. Obviously, we support Zimmerman and believe he is innocent and that he shot a thug. Each target is printed on a thick, high-quality poster paper with a matte finish. The dimensions are 12″ by 18″ … This is a ten pack of targets.” By the way, the seller told a Florida reporter that “the response was overwhelming. I sold out in two days.”

7. The cops wanted to arrest Zimmerman at least twice before he was finally arrested on April 11th. A police report indicated that the local authorities had concluded that “Zimmerman was at fault,” even though they let him go shortly after initially questioning him. The first time they wanted to lock him up was the night of the shooting. The second, as explained in a March 14th report written by lead investigator Christopher Serino, was based in part on the fact that the entire horrific encounter could have been “ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman” if he had not exited his vehicle and also in part because of the fact that Trayvon was not committing any crime.

8. It was Trayvon, not Zimmerman, who was crying for help. Although other witnesses told police they heard what sounded like a child, a person identified only as Witness Number 6 originally stated that Zimmerman’s voice is what he heard. But subsequently, on March 20th, he told John Batchelor of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that “I truly can’t tell who … was yelling for help … because it was so dark out on that sidewalk.”

9. Before Zimmerman goes to trial, he will have a “Stand Your Ground” hearing—which could mean he might not have to go to trial. As a “Stand Your Ground” state, Florida requires a pre-trial proceeding to determine whether the killer, in his own mind, reasonably believed he needed to kill, even to kill an unarmed person. If the judge determines that the killer acted reasonably, all charges against that person would be dismissed immediately. And there obviously would be no trial because there would be no charges remaining.

10. Trayvon’s mom, Sybrina Fulton, has the answer. She’s become the spokesperson for a national movement to abolish every “Stand Your Ground” or similar law throughout the country. You can support her and at the same time save your black sons, nephews, brothers, fathers and uncles. For more information, log onto secondchancecampaign.org. Do it. And do it now. Otherwise, America’s Zimmermans will be driving through your neighborhoods taking target-practice and getting released by cops and prosecutors.