Crime & Safety
South Cobb Residents to Take Part in Protest of Trayvon Martin Shooting
The rally will also protest Georgia's "Stand Your Ground" law.
Residents from Austell and Mableton plan to join a demonstration at 5:30 p.m. at the Capitol to protest the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin of Sanford, Fla. and to speak out against the Georgia “Stand Your Ground” law.
Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed, was shot and killed by neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, in his subdivision as he returned home from purchasing Skittles on Feb. 26.
Zimmerman has not been charged, and said he shot Martin in self-defense.
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The tapes of 911 calls do not seem to line up with Zimmerman’s story of what happened. Here, a man can be heard yelling “help” repeatedly. Then he can no longer be heard after a gun is shot.
On Zimmerman’s own 911 call, the 911 operators tell him not to follow Martin. He ignores their instruction and, during the call, says, “These a—holes, they always get away” and what some say sounds like "f---ing coons." Because of those statements, many are calling the incident a hate crime.
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The Department of Justice and FBI are investigating the killing and a state grand jury will convene to see if charges should be brought.
Both President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney have called the killing “a tragedy.”
The president said on Friday, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”
Men and boys all over the country, including Austell's Destiny World Church, donned hoodies (hooded sweatshirts or jackets) as a demonstration on Sunday. They wore them with their slacks and over their dress shirts and ties. Martin was wearing a hoodie when he was killed.
African-American parents all over the country have expressed outrage, grief and anxiety that their sons, like Martin, could be killed while out buying Skittles and walking home in a relatively safe gated community.
Georgia and Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law allows citizens in imminent danger to “stand their ground” and fight back instead of retreating, as is the law in most states.
The protest Monday hopes to bring awareness and change to the law some are saying has kept Zimmerman free of charges.
What are your thoughts on the Trayvon Martin case? Should Georgia's "Stand Your Ground" law be revised, repealed or left alone? Sound off below.
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