Postings from Sanford: The Trial of Trayvon's Killer, The People's Demand for Justice
Voices from Sanford
June 9, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Correspondents from Revolution newspaper have been out in the community in Sanford getting a feel for how people are seeing the trial, and the situation people face. The following notes are from their interviews:
…On the day that we arrived we talked with two men outside a barbershop here in Sanford. One of the men described the situation here in Sanford, the police harassment, and the years of dehumanization faced by Black people. He talked about the police stopping and harassing his white boss for driving him home from work. “I’m Black and he’s white. He’s in a Black neighborhood, so they assume he’s buying drugs, but even when they know he’s not, they fucked with him.” These are the types of stories you hear around here. There is so much still simmering under the surface.
… I ask a woman named Virginia how she looks at what it took for prosecutors—after a month of not pressing charges, and when Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law was being invoked to justify the killing—to finally charge George Zimmerman with murder. She says: “That made the whole community and everybody all over the world rejoice because we were vindicated. We knew there should have been an arrest made and there wasn’t an arrest made. So when he didn’t take 'stand your ground,' that was great because he didn’t have a ground to stand on in the first place because if he had just listened to what the dispatcher said, he wouldn’t have been in the position he was in and Trayvon would still be alive. But he took matters in his own hand. And we want him to get a fair trial. But there are some things I want to know.
“First of all, I want to know why is it that you took it upon yourself to handle the matter. And number two, what were the things that you said before you took his life? There had to be a reason he was screaming help, that Trayvon was screaming, help, help, somebody help me. Now evidently, the gun could have been out. It could have been pointed, he already said what he had to say and the decision was already made. There was seven minutes from the time of the 911 call to the time of the murder. Seven minutes, you understand what I’m saying? What could have happened in seven minutes? Here you are on the phone. Then I need help. Then bang. What could have happened in seven minutes? What could Trayvon do within seven minutes, if he was beating him up like he [Zimmerman] said he was?
“And I don’t like the fact that they’re trying to make the media think that Trayvon was the thug, that he was the aggressor. He wasn’t the aggressor. He was just minding his own business...”
“The police automatically assumed that Trayvon was wrong. Trayvon automatically was considered the one that did the attacking; you understand what I’m saying? Zimmerman was the one with the gun! They found no gun on Trayvon, but they ran drug tests and everything on Trayvon. Why didn’t you do a drug test on Zimmerman? If I had been the one that would have went after another white person they would have hurried up and did a drug test on me and everything else; you understand where I’m coming from? I wouldn’t have walked. Anybody Black wouldn’t have walked. We’re being stalked, we’re being profiled, we’re being harassed.”
Virginia said, “We’re staying at a peaceful state because we’re waiting to see what’s gonna happen in the court.” She says, “We’re still planning on staying peaceful even after the fact, no matter what the outcome, because the law either going to do it or god’s going to do it.” And then she says, “So we’re waiting. But as far as our young generation, they want to see action. They’re tired of talk; you understand what I’m saying? They’re tired of talk.”
Later she added, “Can I say this? When the killing of Trayvon Martin happened, that’s when it was the last straw. The last straw. And that’s why, I told one interviewer, we’re just getting now to trying to trust the Sanford Police Department. And if we find out that we can’t trust the justice system here in Sanford, then we in trouble. Then we are absolutely in trouble because we already know that we had to deal with a lot of good ole boy system.”
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