Trayvon Martin -- new evidence

Self-appointed vigilantes -- more harm than good?    It sounds that way in this case.

Black teenager, 17 year old Trayvon Martin, was walking down the street in a suburb of Orlando, FL.  He was visiting his father at the home of the father's girlfriend in an upscale gated community.  He had been to the convenience store and had a bag of candy in his pocket.  He was unarmed.

Criminal justice student and self-appointed neighborhood watch volunteer, 28 yr old George Zimmerman, was patrolling the neighborhood when he spotted Martin.   He was armed with a 9 mm handgun.  Shortly thereafter Martin was lying on the ground, dead from a gunshot wound in his chest.   Zimmerman told police he had shot him in self-defense, that he had gotten out of his truck to check the street name, and that Martin had jumped him from behind -- so he shot him in self-defense.

Evidence is mounting to strongly contradict that account.  Records from 911 show that Zimmerman called to report "a suspicious guy" and asked that police be sent.   The 911 recording has Zimmerman saying:

This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something. . . .  He's just staring, looking at all the houses. Now he's coming toward me. He's got his hand in his waistband. Something's wrong with him. . . .  He's coming to check me out. He's got something in his hands. I don't know what his deal is. Can we get an officer over here?"

Then this:

Zimmerman:  "These assholes always get away . . . Shit, he's running."

Dispatcher:  "Are you following him?"

Z:  "Yes."

D:  "We don't need you to do that."

At this point, Zimmerman tells the dispatcher that the guy is running and he was following him.  Then there was further talk about where the police were to meet Zimmerman.   At this point other calls began coming in to 911 from neighbors who reported screaming, two men fighting.  On at least one of the neighbors' calls to 911, a voice can be heard calling, pleading for help.  Police believe this to be Trayvor Martin's voice;  his mother has identified it as his.  Then a gunshot is heard.  Some callers sobbed as they described a dead boy and a man standing over him.

Police investigated, decided there was not enough evidence to refute Zimmerman's story of self-defense -- and have made no arrest.

New evidence: A 16 year old girl has come forward to say that she was on the phone with Trayvon as he was walking down the street.   He told her that a man was following him, so he put up his hoodie.   She told Trayvon to run.   He said he wasn't going to run, but he would walk fast.   At first he thought he had lost the man, but then there he was behind him.   He asked Zimmerman why he was following him.   Zimmerman said, "What are you doing here?"  The next thing she heard was Trayvon's head set must have fallen because the line went dead.  She tried calling him again but got no answer.

Phone records show that she was on the line with Trayvon up until five minutes before the police records show them arriving on the scene.

Local investigative journalists have reported that Zimmerman supposedly "had a thing about young black males."   There had been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood recently.   Police have received numerous calls from Zimmerman in the past year about suspicions in the neighborhood.   In 2005 he was arrested on felony charges for battery against a police officer and resisting arrest with violence.   But prosecutors chose not to prosecute the case, so it was dropped.

This is a tragedy that is all too common for young black men who are automatically eyed with suspicion.  And it is especially tragic when self-appointed, hot-headed people act as vigilantes.  Yes, Neighborhood Watch groups are admirable.   But they should be watchers, not vigilantes with guns and itchy tirgger fingers.

There seems little doubt that Zimmerman is lying when he claims self-defense.  Both the neighbors' calls to 911, and now the 16 year old girl's account of her phone call, pretty well refute that story.  Even Zimmerman's own 911 tape does not jibe with his claim that Martin jumped him from behind -- he was obviously following him when he had been advised by the 911 dispatcher to stop and wait for the police.

What of the local police?   Sounds like they have given this guy a pass now on two occasions.  The state investigator has already taken over the case, and now the U. S. Department of Justice is joining, following an online petition signed by 500,000 people.   This case is going to be big and force these questions to be answered.

But Trayvon is dead -- and he shouldn't be.

Ralph