Trayvon Martin’s parents made appearances on network morning shows Thursday, saying they are still shocked that jurors acquitted George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of their 17-year-old son.
On NBC’s “Today” show, Sybrina Fulton questioned whether jurors looked at the shooting from her son’s point of view.
“He was a teenager. He was scared. He did run,” Fulton said, who added that she believes the justice system failed her son.
“We didn’t get the verdict we wanted because we wanted him to be (held) accountable.”
Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, expressed disbelief in the verdict handed down Saturday by a six-woman jury following a three-week trial in central Florida.
“We felt in our hearts that we were going to get a conviction,” Martin said. “We felt that the killer of our unarmed child was going to be convicted of the crime he committed.”
On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Tracy Martin said he felt the jury did not get a chance to get to know the teen. “They didn’t know him as a human being,” he said.
Martin’s parents said they still believe Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, racially profiled their son.
“Obviously, any time you have a person that makes an assumption that a person is up to no good, that’s some kind of profiling,” Martin said. “Was he racially profiled? I think if Trayvon had been white, this never would have happened.”
Martin’s parents said they support the federal government looking into the case. The Justice Department announced Sunday it plans to review the case to determine whether federal prosecutors should file criminal civil rights charges now that Zimmerman has been acquitted.
Zimmerman, who was charged with second-degree murder, claimed he shot Martin in self-defense.
Martin’s mother said she believes the verdict sends a “terrible message to other little black and brown boys.”
“They can’t walk fast. They can’t walk slow. So what do they do? How do they get home without people assuming you are doing something wrong?,” Fulton said.
Fulton told “CBS This Morning” her son was not a burglar.
“He simply went to the store and was headed back home,” she said. “And for somebody to look at him and perceive that he was a burglar, that was the problem that initiated everything.”
(AP)
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7 Responses
It sounds like they should vent their fustration to Michael Bloomberg, and join him in his campaign against any gun in the Unites States of America.
I’ll bet that if he was white he also wouldn’t not wearing pants half down bottom line was they dress and act a certain way that brings about suspicion stop with the slang stop with the funny dress and nobody will wonder what you’re not too many Orthodox Jews get profiled
Dude was tossed out of school. He was a no good kid. He got himself into trouble by jumping zimmerman, beating him up MMA style, breaking his nose, so unfortunately for treyvon he paid with his life. Dont think he was this little angel because he was far far far from one.
Takingabreak, it might be 2013 people are still racist. If you think that only blacks or Latinos are the only ones who wear their pants half way down, I suggest that you open your eyes. People will still profile a black man who wears a suit. Ask any frum black male. Do you have any clue what it means to be a black male? Sinas chinam is what brought the beis hamikdash down.
Mark, where you there? The only people that know what happened are Zimmerman, Martin and Hashem. How many Jewish kids get kicked out of school? Does this justify his life ending at 17? I believe Elul is coming up…who makes us the judge here?
He was a thug and self proclaimed “gangsta” with pics on his phone of him with marijuana plants and guns. He was 17 and almost 6 feet tall. He wasn’t the little kid but the media keeps showing his pics from when he was 12. Look at his up to date pics. It wasn’t racial profiling. He was a thief and drug dealer.
If he is a kid/child they shouldn’t let him out on the street alone late at night and if they would teach him not to start a fight with a older person then they wouldn’t have to be shocked.