17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by "neighborhood guardian"

Smashgoom202

Smashgoom202

Dry Bowser
Retired Wiki Staff
I just heard about this, and felt the need to share it:

http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-17-year-old-trayvon-martin

A 17-year-old black teen was shot down while going to a convenience store to pick up some Skittles for his brother and some iced tea. George Zimmerman, local police officer (I think...) and self-appointed "neighborhood watch leader", saw him walking from the store, and reported it as "suspicious", then shot him in the chest... even though he was told to do nothing until other officers arrived. He claimed it was in self-defense, even though he was completely unarmed

Yeah, and yet people wonder why we still talk about racism these days. :-\
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

Amazing.
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

That is tragically idiotic on the part of the shooter. That about sums it up.
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

I remember that. What a dumbass the shooter is.
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

Stories like these are often heavily fabricated, but I agree with this one. Trayvon Martin should still be alive. This is a tragedy. My thoughts go out to his family.
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

This is extremely saddening news. The most tragic part of this young teenager's death was that he was an innocent citizen who was just going through a regular life until another took away his life due to his race. It is sad to see how strong stereotypes continue to live even in today's world.
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

This guy should get sent to jail for a lifetime
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

BEEEEEAAARRRS said:
People wonder why we still talk about racism?
Click to expand...
Yeah, there are certain people who think racism "went away" after the civil rights movement, and that there's no more racism anywhere in today's culture. This usually comes from younger white kids and teens who don't seem to know any better, though...

Also, I misread the story, the guy who shot the boy wasn't an officer. He was just some guy who decided to take the "law" into his own hands... So really, there's no excuse not to arrest this guy.
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

Smashgoom202 said:
BEEEEEAAARRRS said:
People wonder why we still talk about racism?
Click to expand...
Yeah, there are certain people who think racism "went away" after the civil rights movement, and that there's no more racism anywhere in today's culture. This usually comes from younger white kids and teens who don't seem to know any better, though...
Click to expand...

It's quite similar to some people who think slavery doesn't exist today.
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

BEEEEEAAARRRS said:
People wonder why we still talk about racism?
Click to expand...

^

I see (hear?) people still talk about it and how it is still a problem all the time, this is probably the first time I've heard someone say that lol
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

Loganofan20 said:
Reminds me of that one image from the Vietnam war.
0.jpg
Click to expand...

The shooting in that picture was actually justified (thanks to Cracked for that info) but this isn't the place to discuss that right now.

Smashgoom202 said:
This usually comes from younger white kids and teens who don't seem to know any better, though...
Click to expand...

Or modern conservative politicians. They have about the same maturity as little kids, though, so you got that part right.
 
More info on the situation

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/trayvon-martin-sanford-florida_n_1345868.html

Lee has said he will not arrest Zimmerman because there is no evidence to suggest the shooting was anything other than self-defense. But the Martin family's attorneys and black community leaders have said the teenager was profiled and targeted because he was young and black.
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To quote a good friend of mine, "Don't they have to prove it WAS self defence? Holy shit WTF, this is wrong on so many levels..."
 
You know, not to downplay how tragic this is, but if it had been a white kid who got shot by a white guy there wouldn't be nearly as much fuss.

Because there have been so many false accusations of racism as a drive for crimes, I'm reluctant to blame this on racism unless someone can actually prove that the shooter had past indications of racist behavior.

Perhaps we all should be focusing on the sadness of this instead of yelling "RACIST RACISM BLARGH".
 
Dr. Javelin said:
Perhaps we all should be focusing on the sadness of this instead of yelling "RACIST RACISM BLARGH".
Click to expand...
Can't they be one in the same? The most tragic thing about this story is not JUST the death of this poor kid, but that his killer still walks free! This guy hasn't been arrested, and you can BET that if the roles were reversed, that if Zimmerman was a black guy and Trayvon Martin was white, he would have been arrested in a heartbeat, instead of being let go the same damn day!

Oh, BTW, more info on the subject:

 
Dr. Javelin said:
You know, not to downplay how tragic this is, but if it had been a white kid who got shot by a white guy there wouldn't be nearly as much fuss.

Because there have been so many false accusations of racism as a drive for crimes, I'm reluctant to blame this on racism unless someone can actually prove that the shooter had past indications of racist behavior.

Perhaps we all should be focusing on the sadness of this instead of yelling "RACIST RACISM BLARGH".
Click to expand...

The kid was shot because he "looked suspicious" when in fact he wasn't doing anything remotely wrong. Black people as criminals is a stereotype that a lot of people believe. The shooter obviously thought the kid was going to commit a crime or do something terrible. I really don't see how it couldn't be about race.
 
Re: 17-year-old unarmed black teen shot by officer

Nosferatu Man said:
Loganofan20 said:
Reminds me of that one image from the Vietnam war.
0.jpg
Click to expand...

The shooting in that picture was actually justified (thanks to Cracked for that info) but this isn't the place to discuss that right now.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know. I just was reminded of it. :P

Also, per Smashgoom's response to Javelin.
 
Nosferatu Man said:
Dr. Javelin said:
You know, not to downplay how tragic this is, but if it had been a white kid who got shot by a white guy there wouldn't be nearly as much fuss.

Because there have been so many false accusations of racism as a drive for crimes, I'm reluctant to blame this on racism unless someone can actually prove that the shooter had past indications of racist behavior.

Perhaps we all should be focusing on the sadness of this instead of yelling "RACIST RACISM BLARGH".
Click to expand...

The kid was shot because he "looked suspicious" when in fact he wasn't doing anything remotely wrong. Black people as criminals is a stereotype that a lot of people believe. The shooter obviously thought the kid was going to commit a crime or do something terrible. I really don't see how it couldn't be about race.
Click to expand...
I haven't seen any details either confirming or denying that it was based on that stereotype, so I'm keeping an open mind about it.
 
What I want to know if why he thought someone walking into a shop was suspicious. Seriously loads of people walk into shops.
 
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